Parenchymal and stromal tissue regeneration of tooth organ by pivotal signals reinstated in decellularized matrix.

Cells are transplanted to regenerate an organs' parenchyma, but how transplanted parenchymal cells induce stromal regeneration is elusive. Despite the common use of a decellularized matrix, little is known as to the pivotal signals that must be restored for tissue or organ regeneration. We report that Alx3, a developmentally important gene, orchestrated adult parenchymal and stromal regeneration by directly transactivating Wnt3a and vascular endothelial growth factor.

Primary Ewing sarcoma of the anterior mandible localized to the midline.

Ewing sarcoma is a malignant, small, round blue-cell tumor of the bone that is usually located in the long bones and the pelvis. Fewer than 3% of all Ewing sarcomas originate in the head and neck region and these are mostly located in the posterior mandible. We report the case of a 17-year-old girl with a primary Ewing sarcoma localized at the midline of the anterior mandible.

Topical Application of Green Tea Polyphenol (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) for Prevention of Recurrent Oral Neoplastic Lesions.

Objective: A preliminary study was conducted to investigate feasibility of using an oral cancer chemopreventive agent (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the most biologically active component in the green tea extract, in a form of 'swish-and-spit' mouthwash. Such application of EGCG is beneficial as it maximizes exposure of the oral mucosa to the agent but minimizes systemic side effect.

Study Design: The study was conducted on individuals suspected to have oral field cancerization who are at a high risk for developing recurrent oral precancerous and carcinomatous lesions.

Cartilage choristoma (soft tissue chondroma): a rare presentation in the lower lip.

Cartilage choristoma (soft tissue chondroma) is an ectopic cartilaginous tissue that is rarely found in oral mucosa. Awareness of such disease entity will guide proper diagnosis and treatment. A case of cartilage choristoma occurring in the lower lip of an 8-year-old child is reported.

Gingival squamous cell carcinoma in adolescence.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a rare finding in the adolescent population, with most cases occurring in patients with underlying heritable diseases or immunologic conditions. Moreover, the incidence of oral SCC in this age group is extremely low. While isolated cases of adolescent oral SCC have been documented, most have been primary tongue or lip lesions.

Juvenile oral lichen planus: a report of 2 cases.

Lichen planus is a mucocutaneous disease that predominantly affects older patients and occurs much less frequently in the pediatric population. Furthermore, oral lichen planus is extremely rare in childhood with very few cases cited in the literature. The intention of this paper is to contribute two clinically and histologically documented cases of juvenile oral lichen planus cases to the literature.

Activated checkpoint kinase 2 expression and risk for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Phosphoactivation of a DNA damage response molecule checkpoint kinase 2 (pChk2) may be a marker of oral epithelial cells that have entered the precancerous and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) stages. We explored whether there was selective expression of pChk2 in precancerous lesions but not in nonneoplastic tissue of the oral mucosa.

Experimental Design: In a retrospective cohort design, 96 biopsied clinical leukoplakias and erythroplakias with known subsequent progression to SCC were identified from 48 subjects and assigned as the cases group.

Bilateral canalicular adenomas of the upper lip.

An unusual case of canalicular adenomas appearing bilaterally and simultaneously as separate nodules of the right and left upper lip is described. Upon histological examination, both nodules revealed tumor islands within their respective capsules, as well as outside their capsules and extending into normal salivary gland tissues. The article describes this unusual case and reviews the significance of the extracapsular tumor islands.

Myeloid sarcoma occurring concurrently with drug-induced gingival enlargement.

Background: Myeloid sarcoma is an extramedullary malignancy of myeloblasts. An unusual case of myeloid sarcoma presenting in the gingiva and affected by drug-induced gingival enlargement is presented.

Methods: A 63-year-old male taking amlodipine for his hypertension presented with a 3-week gingival enlargement.