No abstract

The oropharyngeal (OP) squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) can results from apoptosis abnormality in cells that DNA cannot be repaired. It is known that the ability to promote apoptosis in damaged cells is variable in humans, once polymorphic genes produce many proteins involved in the process. Proteins like CASP3 and CASP8 are important in apoptosis. Polymorphisms CASP3 IVS1-15G>T and CASP8 -652 6N ins/del are associated to occurrence of different tumors, but their functions in development and clinical-pathological manifestations of OPSCC are unknown. Therefore, the objectives of this study are clearing these points. One hundred ninety four patients with OPSCC and 194 blood donors from HEMOCENTRO of UNICAMP were studied. The genotypes were analyzed by real time polymerase chain reaction in peripheral blood DNA. We observed that the polymorphisms do not change the risk of OPSCC occurrence, but the polymorphism CASP8 -652 6N ins/del was associated with clinical aspects (sex and skin color) and tumor differentiation grade, in our sample.