Characteristics and Effects of Muscle Fibers surrounding Lingual Carcinoma

Abstract

It has been suggested that dysphagia caused by excision of carcinoma of the tongue may be affected by the hypofunction of the surrounding muscle tissues, as well as by tissue defects. However, there have been no reports concerning how muscle fiber characteristics change in the regions surrounding the lesion after excision of the carcinoma. In this study, we investigated myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms at genetic levels in order to demonstrate the muscle fiber characteristics of the muscle tissues surrounding lingual carcinoma (the experimental group). High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) was used as a marker to examine whether tongue cancer actually developed. MyHC-2a expression was high in the experimental group. Thus, the marked changes of muscle fiber characteristics, as seen in this study, were considered to be a biological reaction to changing muscle characteristics for regenerating or maintaining normal muscle tissues against the muscle atrophy caused by carcinoma.