RESUMO
ObjectiveTo study the expression and clinical significance of osteopontin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues.MethodsOsteopontin expression was determined in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues in 44 cases and normal mucosa tissues in 25 cases by immunohistochemical staining.The relationship between osteopontin expression and pathological features of nasopharyngeal car(e)inoma was analyzed.ResultsThe positive expression rate of osteopontin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissues and the positive staining area was larger [77.27％(34/44) vs.8.00％(2/25),(60.24 ± 17.51 )％ vs.(1.32 ± 0.48)％ ](P＜0.05).The positive expression of osteopontin was correlated with clinical staging and lymph node metastasis(P ＜ 0.05),while had no relationship with pathological staging(P＞ 0.05).ConclusionsThere is a close correlation between expression of osteopontin and tumor cell invasion and metastasis.Over-expression of osteopontin may be one of the important factors contributing to the invasion and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.