Blimp-1 Overexpression in Early T-Stage Gingival Cancer with Neck Metastasis-A Case Report and PDTX Pilot Study

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition is a crucial process in the successful execution of numerous processes, such as the metastasis of oral cancer cells. Blimp-1 may play a critical role in migration through epithelial-mesenchymal transition in oral cancer cells. Compared with conventional cancer animal models, patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDTX) models may more faithfully recapitulate the tumor architecture and cellular heterogeneity observed in patient tumors. In this case, multiple prominent lymph node metastases were noted, although it was a T1-stage gingival cancer. Blimp-1 overexpression was observed in this tumor after an immunohistochemical stain examination. A PDTX model was used to maintain this aggressive cancer. We want to test the potential therapeutic target of Blimp-1 via our employed PDTX oral cancer models in future studies.