The development of novel treatment and histopathological diagnosis methods for oral precancerous lesions targeting macrophages

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K17247
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Surgical dentistry
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Shigeoka Manabu 神戸大学, 医学研究科, 助教 (20778716)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 口腔前癌病変 / 発癌 / 白板症 / 口腔扁平上皮癌 / 早期発見 / 病理診断 / マクロファージ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To investigate the role of macrophages in oral carcinogenesis, we conducted immunohistochemical analyses with tongue leukoplakia samples and in vitro assays with human oral keratinocytes and THP-1 human monocytic leukemia cells. Our results indicated that IL-10 induced by CD163-positive macrophages may contribute to the development of tongue leukoplakia via immunosuppression. Furthermore, it is showed that the distribution of CD163-positive macrophages differs during oral carcinogenesis. It was identified the evaluation of the distribution of CD163-positive macrophages is potentially useful for preoperative biopsy diagnosis of tongue leukoplakia.

Free Research Field

口腔前癌病変

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで口腔の発癌段階におけるマクロファージの役割に関する報告は少数であったが、本研究によりCD163を発現するマクロファージが腫瘍免疫回避を介し生物学的なプロモーターとして関与する可能性が示された。また、発癌過程においてCD163陽性マクロファージの局在が変化することを明らかにし、 本結果が日常の病理診断(術前局所生検)に応用できる可能性も見出した。