Stereological assessment of the epithelial-connective tissue junction in experimental oral cancer
Abstract
In the present report, morphological changes at the epithelial-connective tissue junction have been evaluated in carcinomas induced by the application of DMBA to hamster cheek pouch mucosa. Stereological intersection counting procedures were used to quantify hemidesmosomes (HD) and lamina densa (LD) in relation to the basal plasma membrane (BM). Parameters characterising both relative surfaces (SSHD,BM; SSLD,BM) and number/unit surface (NSHD,BM) were significantly reduced in cheek pouch carcinomas when compared with normal mucosa, whereas individual hemidesmosomal dimensions remained unaffected. Stereological methods can be used to provide valuable objective information on structural aspects of malignant transformation, and these techniques may be usefully extended to determine the specificity of these alterations.