Immunohistochemical expression of epithelial mesenchymal transition proteins ZEB1 and E-cadherin in oral leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma

Table 1 Comparison of E-cadherin expression with respect to intensity, location and percentage scores among the major study groups (oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma) by Mann Whitney U test

E-cadherin expression	Intensity				Location						Percentage of positivity
	0	1	2	Value	0	1	2	3	4	Value	0	1	2	3	Value
OED (n = 30)	0	15	15	-	0	24	0	6	0	-	0	1	5	24	H = 17.898
OSCC (n = 30)	1	10	19	P = 0.4420	1	4	0	25	0	P = 0.0001b	1	5	9	15	P = 0.0315a

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

Intensity: 0: Negative, 1: Mild, 2: Moderate. Location: 0: Absent, 1: Membrane, 2: Membrane + cytoplasmic, 3: Cytoplasm. Percentage: 0: Absent, 1: 1%-25%, 2: 25%-50%, 3: > 50%. OED: Oral epithelial dysplasia; OSCC: Oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Table 2 Comparison of zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 expression in epithelium with respect to intensity, location and percentage scores among the major study groups (oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma) by Kruskal Wallis analysis of variance

ZEB1 expression	Intensity				Location						Percentage of positivity
	0	1	2	Value	0	1	2	3	4	Value	0	1	2	3	Value
OED (n = 30)	0	21	9	-	0	0	22	4	4	-	0	2	10	18	-
OSCC (n = 30)	0	19	11	P = 0.6627	0	0	30	0	0	P = 0.7730	0	1	6	23	P = 0.2643

Intensity: 0: Negative, 1: Mild, 2: Moderate. Location: 0: Absent, 1: Membrane, 2: Cytoplasm + nucleus, 3: Cytoplasm. Percentage: 0: Absent, 1: 1%-25%, 2: 25%-50%, 3: > 50%. OED: Oral epithelial dysplasia; OSCC: Oral squamous cell carcinoma; ZEB1: Zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1.

Table 3 Comparison of zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 expression in connective tissue with respect to intensity and percentage scores among two study groups (oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma) by Kruskal Wallis analysis of variance

ZEB1 expression in connective tissue	Intensity				Percentage of positivity
	0	1	2	Value	0	1	2	3	Value
OED (n = 30)	0	2	28	-	0	1	6	23	-
OSCC (n = 30)	1	18	11	P = 0.0038a	1	20	4	5	P = 0.0001b

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

Intensity: 0: Negative, 1: Mild, 2: Moderate. Location: 0: Absent, 1: Membrane, 2: Cytoplasm + nucleus, 3: Cytoplasm. Percentage: 0: Absent, 1: 1%-25%, 2: 25%-50%, 3: > 50%. OED: Oral epithelial dysplasia; OSCC: Oral squamous cell carcinoma; ZEB1: Zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1.

Table 4 Univariate comparison of different immunohistochemical parameters (variables) in oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma groups (χ² test)

Variables	OED	%	OSCC	%	Total	%	χ2	P value
E-Cad intensity	18	60.00	19	63.33	37	61.67	0.0710	0.7910
E-Cad location	8	26.67	25	83.33	33	55.00	19.4610	0.0001b
E-Cad percentage	25	83.33	15	50.00	40	66.67	7.5000	0.0060b
ZEB1 EPI intensity	9	30.00	11	36.67	20	33.33	0.3000	0.5840
ZEB1 EPI location	8	26.67	1	3.33	9	15.00	9.2310	0.0020b
ZEB1 EPI percentage	18	60.00	23	76.67	41	68.33	1.9260	0.1650
ZEB1 CT intensity	28	93.33	15	50.00	43	71.67	13.8710	0.0001b
ZEB1 CT percentage	23	76.67	6	20.00	29	48.33	19.2880	0.0001b

^bP < 0.01.

ZEB1: Zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1; EPI: Epithelium; CT: Connective tissue; OED: Oral epithelial dysplasia; OSCC: Oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Table 5 Forward step wise discriminant function analysis for oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma

Variables	Wilks’ Lambda	Partial Lambda	F-remove (1, 56)	P level
E-cadherin location	0.5762	0.7532	18.3489	0.0001a
ZEB1 CT intensity	0.5607	0.7740	16.3487	0.0002a
ZEB1 CT intensity	0.4894	0.8869	7.1442	0.0098a
Step 3, N of vars in model: 3; grouping: Groups (2 groups)
Wilks’ Lambda: 0.43402 approx. F (3, 56) = 24.342 P < 0.0000
Variables	Un-standardized coefficients	Standardized coefficients	Sectioning points
E-cadherin location	-1.5935	-0.6628	-1.1228	1.1228
ZEB1 CT intensity	1.5171	0.6352	-
ZEB1 CT intensity	1.1142	0.4478	-
Constant	-0.6553	-	-
Eigen value	1.3040	1.3040	-

^aP < 0.05.

ZEB1: Zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1; CT: Connective tissue.

Table 6 Demonstrates the classification accuracy using the discriminant function

Predicted classifications	Observed classifications
	Percentage	OED group	OSCC group
OED group	86.7	26	4
OSCC group	83.3	5	25
Total	85.0	31	29

OED: Oral epithelial dysplasia; OSCC: Oral squamous cell carcinoma.