Evaluation of collagen in different grades of oral squamous cell carcinoma by using the Picrosirius red stain- a histochemical study

摘要

Oral squamous cell carcinoma is a major public health problem accounting for 94% of all oral malignancies. In this tumour, cells invade the stroma in the form of islands, strands or sheets, which are embedded in or surrounded by an extracellular matrix, thus producing reactive changes in the stroma. Collagen was studied histochemically in different grades of squamous cell carcinoma by staining tumour sections with Picrosirius red and examining them with polarizing microscopy. Polarizing colours of the collagen fibres were recorded and a gradual change from reddish orange to greenish yellow was observed from well to poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, thus indicating that as the tumour progresses, there is a change from the mature form of collagen to an immature form.