Background and objectives: Tumor angiogenesis and inflammation terms are intricately linked to cancer progression. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which controls special occasions in angiogenesis of pathological conditions that are involved in the metabolic functions of cancer cells, is examined in conjunction with the inflammatory cytokine inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in parenchymal together with stromal cells of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) as well as assessing microvessel density (MVD). Methods: Immunohistochemistry will be applied to analyze the appearance of VEGF, iNOS as well as CD31 within 31 OSCCs paraffin blocks, which comprised of 13 well differentiated, 10 moderately differentiated, and 8 poorly differentiated (paraffin blocks OSCC). Results: Both VEGF and iNOS exhibit strong expression in both parenchymal and stromal cells in all grades of OSCC together with increased MVD. Conclusion: The discriminating expression of VEGF and iNOS from well to poorly differentiated OSCC potentially correlates with its increased invasiveness.

Key words: VEGF, iNOS, parenchymal, stromal, OSCC