Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine - Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology

Head and neck cancer among the most common incident cancers in men worldwide. Early detection is the key to higher survival rate against this type of cancer. Cytokeratins are essential intracellular components, reflecting distinct cellular properties and differentiation stages in epithelial tissues. The CYFRA 21-1 assay, which is the soluble fragment of cytokeratin 19, has been proven capable of early .detection of epithelial carcinomas This study was conducted to correlate the immunoexpression of CK 19 with the concentration of its salivary fragments (CYFRA 21-1) for early detection of induced .dysplastic changes prior to malignant transformation in experimental rat The study was conducted on fourty four male albino rats with age ranging from 3 to 4 months and with a mean weight of 220 gm. They were divided into two groups, each consisting of 22 rats, the first group represents the control group I and the second group represents induced group II. Each group was subdivided into 5 subgroups A, B, C, D and E according to the time of euthanization with intervals of 9,12,15,18 and 21 weeks from time of induction respectively. In induced group II, the tongue mucosae of each rat were painted (topically) with dimethylbenz-anthracene and formaldehyde, .whereas group I served as positive control The Rats were euthanized according to the Research Animal Guidelines of Euthanasia (2013). The dissected tongue mucosae of rats were processed routinely to obtain 5 microns thick sections

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