ABSTRACT
Introduction: In Head and Neck (HN) cancer, the High-Risk Human Papillomavirus (hr HPV) infection has been associated in about 40% of these tumors. The hr HPV infection is one of the etiological factors of several epithelial tumors; however, its association with the prognosis has not yet been established for patients with Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (LSCC). On the other hand, Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is a molecular marker widely studied in cancer and its overexpression has been associated with poor prognosis in some types of cancer, including the HN cancer. In the present study, we analyzed EGFR expression and HPV detection in a cohort of Mexican patients with LSCC and define their association with clinical-pathological and survival parameters. Methods: EGFR expression analysis was performed by immunohistochemistry assay. A tissue array was constructed based on 30 paraffin-embedded tissue samples. HPV detection was performed by PCR. The results were then compared with the clinical-pathological variables and outcome measures (Kaplan Meier and Cox analysis). Results: High expression of EGFR was observed in 43% of the samples and 20% of HPV detection. The statistical analyses provided evidence of disassociation between clinical-pathological parameters and EGFR expression, but there was an association with poor prognosis. Interestingly, HPV detection is slightly associated with good prognosis. Conclusion: Both, EGFR overexpression and HPV presence could be associated with an unfavorable prognosis in patients with LSCC, independently of other clinical-pathological factors.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/mortality , Laryngeal Neoplasms/mortality , Papillomavirus Infections/mortality , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/virology , DNA, Viral/genetics , ErbB Receptors/metabolism , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Laryngeal Neoplasms/pathology , Laryngeal Neoplasms/virology , Male , Mexico , Middle Aged , Papillomaviridae/genetics , Papillomaviridae/isolation & purification , Papillomavirus Infections/pathology , Papillomavirus Infections/virology , Prognosis , Survival RateABSTRACT
AIMS: The authors have previously reported that cellular retinol-binding protein 1 (CRBP1) gene gain and its expression correlated significantly with survival in laryngeal carcinoma patients. The authors hypothesised that inactivation of the CRBP1 gene through CpG methylation is associated with patient status and gene expression. In this work, the authors determine the expression and methylation status of the CRBP1 gene and its correlation with clinical variables of laryngeal carcinoma patients. METHODS: The CRBP1 gene methylation promoter was assessed by methylation specific PCR analysis in tissue samples from larynx cancer specimens and its expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry on paraffin embedded tissue using tissue microarray. The results were then compared with the clinical pathological variables and outcome measures. The study included 46 samples from patients with non-metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx without any previous oncological treatments. RESULTS: Lack of CRBP1 expression was seen in 17 of the 46 laryngeal carcinoma samples, while the remaining 29 samples showed increased expression. Significant associations were found between CRBP1 expression and methylation and patient status. There was a tendency for association in all clinical stages of the disease. CRBP1 gene expression and its unmethylated promoter correlated significantly with survival (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: An early event of larynx cancer could be CRBP1 expression related to unmethylation of the promoter region. These features could also be associated with good response and survival. The authors hypothesised that increased expression and unmethylated promoter of the CRBP1 gene could be considered as markers for larynx cancer.
