RESUMO
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) consists of a rapid and reversible change in the cellular phenotype toward the mesenchymal cell phenotype that facilitates cell migration and invasion of the tumor into surrounding tissues followed by metastasis. In the present study, we sought to determine the clinical significance of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, ß-catenin, α-catenin, γ-catenin, caveolin-1, and vimentin in a cohort of patients with stage I to IVA laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) treated with surgery with or without adjuvant therapy using immunohistochemical analyses. STUDY DESIGN: Individual retrospective cohort study. METHODS: E-cadherin, N-cadherin, ß-catenin, α-catenin, γ-catenin, caveolin-1, and vimentin immunohistochemical expression were evaluated in a cohort of 82 patients with stages I to IVA LSCC. The Fisher exact test was used for categorical variables, and the Mann-Whitney test where appropriate for continuous variables. Survival comparisons was performed using the log-rank test. A multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model was performed and considered all EMT markers. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, T stage was an independent risk factor for adverse disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) (P = .025 and .019, respectively). Cytoplasmic ß-catenin overexpression was independently associated with a longer DSS (P = .0007), and E-cadherin overexpression was found to be an independent risk factor for poor OS (P = .030). CONCLUSIONS: E-cadherin and ß-catenin pathways could represent future therapeutic targets in the treatment of LSCC. However, validation of our results in prospective cohorts of patients with LSCCs is required before their clinical implementation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA.
