ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the expression of minichromosome maintenance protein 7 (MCM7) in sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SNSCC),and evaluate its relationship with tumor differentiation and prognosis of patients.Methods Using immunohistochemistry,MCM7 expression in SNSCC and nasal polyps with chronic sinusitis (NPCRS) were studied,and relationships between markers and clinicapathological features were analyzed.Results In NPCRS,MCM7 positive cells were mainly distributed in the epithelial basal layer and the expression rate was low,whereas in SNSCC,MCM7 positive cells were diffuse and the expression rate was high.MCM7 expression was significantly higher in SNSCC than in NPCRS (P ＜ 0.001) and related to tumor differentiation (P =0.001),increasing gradually with decreasing degree of differentiation.The overall 3-and 5-year survival rates of patients with SNSCC were 61.3％ and 46％,respectively.The 3-year survival rates for patients with stage Ⅰ and Ⅳ were 90％ and 25.6％,respectively,and the 5-year survival rates were 70％ and 17.1％,respectively;the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.001).The 3-and 5-year survival rates of MCM7-negative patients were 36.0％ and 18.0％,respectively,and those of MCM7-positive patients were 59.9％ and 34.2％,respectively;the difference was not statistically significant (P =0.297).Conclusion In SNSCC,MCM7 expression is significantly increased,inversely associated with the degree of tumor differeutiation,and unrelated to the survival rates of patients.