Tissue sample characterization

A total of 30 OSCC tissue sample blocks were retrieved from Department of Oral Pathology of an Institution. After the Ethics Committee approval of the study protocol, OSCC tissue samples were categorized based on the site under the following groups.

Group 1: Histologically confirmed cases of OSCC of the tongue (n = 10)

Group 2: Histologically confirmed cases of OSCC of the buccal mucosa (n = 10)

Group 3: Histologically confirmed cases of OSCC of GB sulcus (n = 10).

From the FFPE tissue blocks, 5 μ thick sections were cut. Ten sections from the blocks were used for RNA extraction, giving a total tissue area of approximately 1 cm²[8] Tissue samples from the three study groups and healthy gingiva as the control group (n = 10) were collected in 2 ml microcentrifuge tube containing RNA later solution (GCC Biotech, West Bengal, India) and stored until RNA extraction.