Abstract

Background: The immune expression of Estrogen receptors (ERs) in oral mucosal cells is still controversial. This study aimed to detect ER alpha (ERα) in oral mucosa of Sudanese patients with breast cancer.

Methods: In this a retrospective case control study, the immune expression of ERα was evaluated by immunocytochemistry (ICC) using the avidin biotin technique on buccal smears obtained from 50 breast cancer patients (forty of them were known to be ERs positive in breast tissues)and 50 apparently healthy females.

Results: ERα expression was neither detected in the oral mucosacells of the patients with breast cancer nor in the study control group. 80% of the patients in this study were categorized as ERs positive in the breast biopsy by immunohistochemical method(IHC). The relationship between the ERs expression and the use of contraceptive pills was statistically significant (P<0.001).The participants of some tribes showed 100% of ERs expression in their breast tissues. The invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC)cases showed positive ER immune expression more frequently compared to invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC)cases (P<0.001).

Conclusion: ERαimmunoexpressing was not detected in the oral mucosal cells of the breast cancer patients by ICC. We recommended to use RT- PCR to detect the mRNA ERs expression in oral mucosa to get a conclusive result about the ERs expression in oral mucosa. Keywords: Breast cancer, Estrogen receptors, Erα,Oral Mucosa, Immunocytochemistry,Immunohistochemistry, Sudan.