RESUMO
[ABSTRACT]OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of cytokeratin (CK) 4 and 13 in sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SNSCC) and their pathobiological implications for tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. METHODSThe expression of CK4 and CK13 was detected by immunohistochemistry in normal and cancerous tissues in 42 cases of SNSCC, integral optical density (A) was measured by computer analysis of images and analyzed by SPSS13.0.RESULTSCK4 and CK13 were expressed significantly higher in normal tissues than in cancerous tissues of SNSCC. Moreover, the expression level of CK4 and CK13 was related to the differentiation of SNSCC, which was higher in the well/middle differentiated ones than in poor ones. The expression of CK4 was significantly associated with the tumor size, clinical stage and cervical lymphatic metastasis in SNSCC. While CK13 had no relationship with these three factors.CONCLUSIONThe detection of CK-4 and CK-13 might play an important role in the prognostic evaluation of SNSCC.