Kumar KCP, Sahoo S, Adhya AK, Gaikwad MR, Ganapathy A, Ravi PK. Evaluating palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma: A novel indicator of tumor behavior and therapeutic response. World J Exp Med 2025; 15(4): 110917 [DOI: 10.5493/wjem.v15.i4.110917]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Praveen Kumar Ravi, MD, DNB, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Sijua, Patrapada, Bhubaneswar 751019, Odisha, India. praveenkumar1059@gmail.com
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Pathology
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Basic Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Dec 20, 2025 (publication date) through Dec 19, 2025
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World Journal of Experimental Medicine
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2220-315x
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Kumar KCP, Sahoo S, Adhya AK, Gaikwad MR, Ganapathy A, Ravi PK. Evaluating palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma: A novel indicator of tumor behavior and therapeutic response. World J Exp Med 2025; 15(4): 110917 [DOI: 10.5493/wjem.v15.i4.110917]
World J Exp Med. Dec 20, 2025; 15(4): 110917 Published online Dec 20, 2025. doi: 10.5493/wjem.v15.i4.110917
Evaluating palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma: A novel indicator of tumor behavior and therapeutic response
Kurundhalingam Chinniah Pradheep Kumar, Sanjukta Sahoo, Amit Kumar Adhya, Manisha R Gaikwad, Arthi Ganapathy, Praveen Kumar Ravi
Kurundhalingam Chinniah Pradheep Kumar, Sanjukta Sahoo, Manisha R Gaikwad, Praveen Kumar Ravi, Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar 751019, Odisha, India
Amit Kumar Adhya, Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar 751019, Odisha, India
Arthi Ganapathy, Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi 110029, Delhi, India
Co-corresponding authors: Sanjukta Sahoo and Praveen Kumar Ravi.
Author contributions: All authors contributed significantly to the development of this study; Sahoo S and Ganapathy A conceptualised the research idea and contributed to the study design; Adhya AK and Ganapathy A were responsible for designing the study framework; Kumar KCP conducted the investigation and data acquisition; Data analysis and interpretation were performed by Ravi PK and Adhya AK; The manuscript was drafted by Kumar KCP and edited by Ravi PK; Gaikwad MR and Sahoo S critically reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version; All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript before submission. Both Sahoo S and Ravi PK are designated as co-corresponding authors due to their indispensable and complementary roles throughout the study. Sahoo S provided the initial conceptual framework and supervised the overall research process from planning to execution. She secured the necessary institutional permissions, guided the development of the study design, and ensured the methodological and ethical soundness of the project. She also critically revised the early versions of the manuscript and offered key insights into the interpretation of findings in the context of existing anatomical and clinical literature. Ravi PK played a pivotal role in data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript preparation. He re-evaluated the dataset, performed advanced statistical analyses, and reinterpreted the results to strengthen the scientific narrative. Ravi PK also contributed significantly to refining the manuscript’s structure, ensuring clarity, precision, and alignment with journal requirements. He was primarily responsible for the preparation, formatting, and submission of the final version of the manuscript, including correspondence with the journal. The collaboration between Sahoo S and Ravi PK was crucial in integrating the conceptual, analytical, and editorial aspects of the work. Their joint intellectual and supervisory contributions were essential for the successful completion and publication of this manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar Institutional Review Board (Approval No. IEC/AIIMS BBSR/PG Thesis/2022-23/46).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The original data utilized in this study can be obtained from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Praveen Kumar Ravi, MD, DNB, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Sijua, Patrapada, Bhubaneswar 751019, Odisha, India. praveenkumar1059@gmail.com
Received: June 19, 2025 Revised: July 25, 2025 Accepted: November 17, 2025 Published online: December 20, 2025 Processing time: 183 Days and 23.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) poses a major health burden, with frequent late-stage diagnoses and limited prognostic tools. Palmitoyl-protein thioesterase (PPT)1, a lysosomal enzyme, has been implicated in tumor biology. This study investigates PPT1 expression in OSCC and its association with clinicopathological features.
AIM
To evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of PPT1 in OSCC and assess its correlation with patient age, gender, tumor grade, and TNM staging using H-score quantification.
METHODS
Immunohistochemistry for PPT1 was performed on 43 histopathologically confirmed OSCC samples. PPT1 expression was quantified using the H-score method (range: 0-300). Correlation with clinical parameters was assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation and Kruskal–Wallis test.
RESULTS
PPT1 expression showed a significant positive correlation with tumor grade (ρ = 0.48, P = 0.0015), while a weak, nonsignificant negative correlation was noted with patient age (ρ = -0.27, P = 0.083). No significant differences were found by gender or tumor stage. Given the small sample size, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary.
CONCLUSION
PPT1 expression is associated with histological tumor grade in OSCC and may reflect tumor aggressiveness. These initial results highlight the potential of PPT1 as a prognostic biomarker, warranting further validation in larger, multicenter studies.
Core Tip: This study explored the expression of palmitoyl-protein thioesterase (PPT)1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) using immunohistochemistry and H-score quantification. A strong positive correlation was observed between PPT1 expression and tumor grade, while a negative correlation was seen with age. These findings suggest that PPT1 serves as a novel prognostic and therapeutic biomarker, especially in younger patients and advanced OSCC cases. The study highlights the potential of integrating molecular biomarkers like PPT1 with conventional histopathological evaluation to guide personalized treatment strategies in OSCC.
