Expressions of Nuclear Factor-kappa B and Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor-Gamma Proportional with Clinical Staging of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignancy induced by the mutation of the transcription factors nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma). There was no known of the study about the association and targeted therapy of NF-kB and PPAR-gamma-induced NPC. AIM: This study analyzed and compared the proportion of NF-kB and PPAR-gamma and its association with the clinical characteristic of various NPC patients. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study and conducted in Adam Malik General Hospital. The samples were paraffin block tissue obtained from 58 NPC patients and underwent immunohistochemistry staining for NF-kB or PPAR-gamma overexpression in March–November 2018. Determination of overexpression was based on the immunoreactive score. The association of NF-kB or PPAR-gamma overexpression with the clinical characteristics of the patients was analyzed using Fisher’s exact test. RESULTS: This study showed a significant increase of NF-kB and PPAR-gamma (p < 0.05). Male was found common than women (3.46:1) with non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma as the most common form of NPC (75.9%) and the 41–60 years old is the most common age (56.9%). Overexpression of NF-kB and PPAR-gamma was found mostly in T3-T4 (66.0%; 69.6%), N+ (92.5%; 91.3%), and clinical Stage IV (67.9%; 73.9%), respectively. CONCLUSION: The number of samples overexpressed was proportional to the clinical stage of NPC. This study provides an insight into the relationship of NF-kB and PPAR-gamma to NPC, suggesting their role in the development of malignancy.