To determine the role of
Vimentin and
E-cadherin expression in oral premalignant and malignant lesions. 68 histopathologically confirmed cases of premalignant and malignant oral cavity lesions enrolled. Biopsy specimens were taken from lesion of all cases and subjected to immunohistochemical evaluation of expression of
E-cadherin and
Vimentin. We examined the relationships between the expression of these markers and specific clinicopathological features were analyzed. Out of 68 cases 28 showed high
vimentin expression (3 + and 4 + grade) and 40 showed low
vimentin expression (1 + and 2 + grade). 20 cases out of 68 presented with high
E-cadherin expression (3 + and 4 +) and rest 48 with low expression (1 + and 2 +) of the same. Smoking and tobacco chewing reflected non-significant association with their expression. In this study all 28 patients (100%) with high
vimentin expression had malignant lesions and 17 (60.7%) presented with metastatic lymph nodes Out of 20 patients with high
E-cadherin expression 8(40.0%) had malignant lesions and 12 (60.0%) had pre malignant lesions and 4 (20%) showed nodal
metastasis. As
tumor stage (TNM) progresses, it showed increased
vimentin and decreased
E-cadherin expression and vice versa. We concluded that increased
vimentin and decreased
E-cadherin expression in
oral cancers are associated with
metastasis and
disease progression in terms of upstaging of disease. We can use cellular expression of
vimentin and
E-cadherin for early diagnosis of disease.