Year: 2026 | Month: June | Volume: 13 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 151-157
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260615
A Comprehensive Review of the Immunoexpression of Cancer Stem Cell Markers in Oral Lichen Planus
Dr Manasi Kale1, Dr Jigna Pathak2, Dr Shilpa Patel3, Dr Niharika Swain4, Dr Kamlesh Dekate5
1MDS (Oral Pathology), PG student, MGM Dental college and hospital, Navi Mumbai
2Professor (Oral Pathology), MGM Dental college and hospital, Navi Mumbai
3Professor (Oral Pathology), MGM Dental college and hospital, Navi Mumbai
4Associate professor (Oral Pathology), MGM Dental college and hospital, Navi Mumbai
5Associate professor (Oral Pathology), MGM Dental college and hospital, Navi Mumbai
Corresponding Author: Dr Manasi Kale
ABSTRACT
The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis proposes that a small cluster of tumour cells with stem-cell like properties have unrestricted proliferative potential, aberrant differentiation potential and may be responsible for initiation, progression and aggressive behaviour of tumours. Increase in expression of certain CSC markers and their interactions with the microenvironment could correlate with the biological behaviour of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) like oral lichen planus (OLP). This article highlights the studies that evaluate the expression of various cancer stem cell markers in OLP in order to emphasise the role of CSC markers in predicting its biological behaviour. An electronic search of PUBMED was conducted to find studies published in English language on CSC marker expression in OLP. After thorough screening of the search results, 11 studies were identified. The overall analysis of the included studies suggested that CSC-positive OLP carries significantly high risk of developing Oral Squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Expression of CSC markers showed dominance over other factors such as age, gender and smoking habits, in predicting progression of OLP to OSCC. It was also inferred that owing to the variability of CSC population, it is difficult to establish malignant potential of OLP based on a single CSC marker investigation.
Keywords: Cancer stem cells, Oral Lichen Planus, Oral Cancer, cancer stem cell biomarkers, oral potentially malignant disorders.
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