ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The increased expression of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) has been identified in many human cancers. Recently, a single nucleotide polymorphism changing the sense codon 388 from glycine to arginine was identified in the FGFR4 gene. The FGFR4 Arg(388) allele was found to be associated with a poor prognosis for positive node breast cancer, high-grade soft-tissue sarcoma, colon carcinoma, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). METHODS: We decided to verify the impact of the FGFR4 Arg(388) allele on survival as well as its association with histoclinical data in 75 cases of HNSCC. The FGFR4 Arg(388) allele was detected by PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing. RESULTS: The FGFR4 Arg(388) allele was detected in 42.5% of the tumors (37% heterozygous Gly/Arg and 5.5% homozygous Arg/Arg). The presence of at least one Arg allele was significantly correlated with reduced overall survival after 24 months of follow-up. The cases involving the Arg allele presented an increased mortality risk of 2.2 if compared to the non-carrier cases. CONCLUSION: The FGFR4 Arg(388) allele is associated with a shortened survival.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/genetics , Head and Neck Neoplasms/genetics , Head and Neck Neoplasms/mortality , Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 4/genetics , Alleles , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/mortality , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Female , Head and Neck Neoplasms/pathology , Humans , Male , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide , Prognosis , Survival AnalysisABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The expression of the thyroid cancer-1(TC-1) gene seems to be related with malignant transformation in the thyroid tissue. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the potential use of TC-1 gene expression as a marker of malignancy in thyroid nodules. METHODS: A total of 92 frozen thyroid samples were studied, including 46 samples from thyroid nodules (19 papillary carcinomas, 1 follicular carcinoma, 24 adenomatous goiters, and 2 follicular adenomas) and 46 samples from normal surrounding thyroid tissue. Total RNA was extracted and TC-1 expression was assessed by semiquantitative Multiplex PCR. Results were verified using real-time RT-PCR in some of the samples. RESULTS: Overall mean TC-1 gene expression (normalized by the ABL gene) was 1.73 +/- 1.67 (0.33-9.33). There was a significant difference (p < 0.001) between TC-1 gene expression in benign thyroid lesions (1.07 +/- 0.10) and carcinomas (2.73 +/- 0.51). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that TC-1 gene expression may be useful in the differential diagnosis of goiters and thyroid papillary carcinomas.
