Figure 2. Laser-capture microdissection. (Panel A) Oral cancers commonly present as white or red-white mucosal lesions. They can be exophytic, endophytic, or a combination of the two. (Panel B) While advanced oral cancers can be several centimeters in size, many oral cancers present as lesions that are millimeters in diameter and are frequently overlooked. (Panel C) Like other cancers, oral cancers have heterogeneous cell populations in addition to the malignant epithelium (ME): connective tissues/fibroblasts (CT), vascular epithelium (VE), and acute/chronic inflammatory infiltrate (INFL). (Panel D) Laser-capture microdissection allows for the isolation and transfer of malignant oral epithelium (inset) for DNA, RNA, and protein studies. (Reproduced with permission from Todd et al., 2001)
