Objective To investigate the role of the adhesion molecule E- cad and CD44v6, and the relationship between the expression of E- cad and CD44v6 and the histopathological grade and lymph nodes metastasis in oral and maxillofacial squamous cell carcinoma(SCC). Methods Immunohistochemical method(LSAB) was applied to examine the expression of E- cad and CD44v6 in 54 oral and maxillofacial SCC and 15 non- cancerous tissues. Results E - cad expression was positive in 50.00% of SCC versus in 86.67% of non - can cerous tissues. The positive rate of E- cad in SCC was lower than that in non- cancerous tissues(P