ABSTRACT
AIMS: The expression of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein survivin has been shown to be a significant prognostic indicator in various human cancers. The aim was to assess its expression and prognostic value in salivary gland adenocarcinoma and muco-epidermoid carcinoma. METHODS AND RESULTS: Survivin expression was analysed in 48 patients with parotid gland cancer (21 muco-epidermoid, 27 adenocarcinomas) by means of immunohistochemistry. The experimental findings were correlated with clinicopathological and survival parameters. A high cytoplasmic expression of survivin was found in 30% of the examined tumours without any significant correlation with the patients' clinicopathological characteristics (P > 0.05). Within all patients, the estimated overall survival rate of muco-epidermoid carcinomas was significantly better than that of adenocarcinomas (P = 0.013). A high cytoplasmic survivin expression significantly indicated a poor 5-year disease-free survival rate compared to patients with a low cytoplasmic survivin expression in the whole group (P = 0.001) and in adenocarcinomas (P = 0.004). In a multivariate analysis, a high cytoplasmic survivin expression was the only independent prognostic indicator for a significantly poorer 5-year disease-free survival rate (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The correlation between cytoplasmic survivin expression and survival in salivary gland malignancies might make this an effective tool in patient follow-up, prognosis and targeted therapy in future.
Subject(s)
Cytoplasm/metabolism , Microtubule-Associated Proteins/metabolism , Salivary Gland Neoplasms/metabolism , Adult , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/metabolism , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Disease-Free Survival , Female , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins , Male , Microtubule-Associated Proteins/genetics , Middle Aged , Prognosis , Salivary Gland Neoplasms/pathology , Survival Rate , SurvivinABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the inhibitor of apoptosis protein survivin play important roles in the regulation of cellular proliferation and survival in squamous cell carcinomas. Their correlation in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not been evaluated yet. METHODS: In this multicenter study, we analyzed the expression of survivin and EGFR in tissue specimens from 73 selected patients with OSCC using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Higher cytoplasmic survivin scores were significantly correlated with high scores of EGFR expression (p=.013). Nuclear survivin expression was associated with a poor overall survival rate with an estimated 3-year overall survival probability of 17.3% versus 87.4% for non-nuclear expression of survivin (p<.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that nuclear survivin expression was an independent negative prognostic factor (p=.008). CONCLUSION: Considering the strong impact of nuclear survivin expression on survival, the survivin expression should be prospectively evaluated to select patients with an increased risk for disease recurrence.
