Abstract 1729: Cytoplasmic expression of survivin is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with salivary gland cancer

Abstract

Background: The expression of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein survivin is shown to be a significant prognostic indicator in various human cancers. Its role in cancer of the major salivary glands remains unclear. Methods: We analysed the survivin expression in 171 patients with malignant parotid gland cancer (12 different histological subtypes) by means of immunohistochemistry. The experimental findings were correlated with clinicopathological and survival parameters. The mean follow-up time was 42 months. Results: There was no significant correlation of cytoplasmic survivin expression levels with the patients’ clinicopathological characteristics. A strong cytoplasmic expression of survivin was found in 25% of the examined tumors. High cytoplasmic survivin expression was an independent prognostic indicator for a significant poorer 5-year disease-free survival rate (31% versus 67%, p<0.0005) and overall survival (45% versus 62%, p=0.048). In the multivariate analysis survivn expression and distant metastasis were significant predictors for patient outcome (p=0.001, p<0.0005). Conclusions: The correlation between cytoplasmic survivin expression and survival probabilities of salivary gland malignancies might make this an effective tool in patient follow-up, prognosis and targeted therapy in future. Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010 because the presenter was unable to attend. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1729.