# Therapeutic Insights Into a Case-Control Approach to B-cell Lymphoma 3 (BCL3)-Encoded Protein by Exploring Immune Modulation and Clinical Strategies in Oral Carcinomas

## TL;DR

This study explores the role of the BCL3 protein in oral cancer, finding higher BCL3 levels in tumor samples and linking it to reduced immune response and advanced disease stages.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into BCL3's role in oral carcinoma, particularly in SCC, and its impact on immune modulation.

## Key findings

- BCL3 expression was highest in SCC samples and correlated with advanced tumor stages.
- Higher BCL3 levels were associated with reduced immune infiltration in oral cancer.
- BCL3 appears to modulate the tumor immunity environment, especially in SCC cases.

## Abstract

Background: Oral cancer ranks as one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide. While the role of B-cell lymphoma 3 (BCL3)-encoded protein as an oncogene has been explored in other epithelial cancer types, its specific contribution to oral carcinoma (OC) remains insufficiently investigated. This study investigated the expression of BCL3 patterns in two OC subtypes and examined its influence on immune-related mechanisms.

Methodology: A cross-sectional evaluation based on a case-control study was conducted from September 2022 to January 2023, enrolling 100 participants, of whom 77 were patients diagnosed with OC and 23 were healthy control participants. Two subtypes, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), were examined. RNA was drawn from both tissue and peripheral blood samples using the QIAamp Blood RNA Kit (#51104, Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Subsequently, BCL3 expression was quantified using real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) with gene-specific primers. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA via IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20 (Released 2011; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York), with a threshold of p < 0.05.

Results and conclusion: The highest BCL3 expression was seen in SCC samples (2.91 ± 0.62), followed by MEC samples (1.87 ± 0.58), while healthy controls showed baseline levels of expression (0.94 ± 0.49). The elevated expression of BCL3 is highly correlated with the advanced stage of the tumour, reduced immune infiltration, and multi-modal treatment requirements. Consequently, BCL3 appeared to put a modulatory force on the immunity environment of tumours in OC, particularly in SCC cases.