MIB-1 and involucrin expression in laryngeal squamous carcinoma: the relationship to host and tumour factors and survival

Abstract

MIB-1 is an antibody which attaches to the Ki67 antigen expressed by proliferating cells. MIB-1 immunoreactivity may be used to quantify the proliferative component of a tumour. Involucrin is a protein expressed by mature keratinocytes and may be used as a marker of differentiation. The present paper studies the expression of these two markers in a group of patients with squamous carcinoma of the larynx. Tumour cell kinetics were studied in 49 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx using antibodies to "Ki67' and involucrin. The median potential follow-up for the group was 8.1 years with a minimum follow-up of 5 years. The median MIB-1 index was 32%. The median involucrin index was 56%. Fifteen patients had no or only slight involucrin staining whereas 34 stained intensely for this protein. Involucrin expression was found to be associated with histological grade with those patients expressing involucrin tending to have well differentiated tumours and those not expressing this parameter tending to have poorly differentiated tumours (P = 0.045). There were no other associations between host and tumour factors and the various biological parameters. Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with an involucrin count above the median value had a better 5-year survival than those below the median (89% and 56% respectively) (P < 0.05). In addition, patients with no (or poor) involucrin expression had an increased risk of developing a recurrence at the primary site (P < 0.05). Involucrin appears to be a promising marker of tumour differentiation and survival in squamous carcinoma of the larynx.

Prognostic significance of the Ca2+ binding protein S100A2 in laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma

“…Similar to our finding for S100A2 protein, involucrin expression in laryngeal SCC has been associated with histological grade, being more highly expressed in well-differentiated than in poorly differentiated tumors (Roland et al, 1996). This observation is even more interesting since both the S100A2 and the involucrin genes are likely involved in the process of keratinization, being part of the so-called epidermal differentiation complex (Mischke et al, 1996).…”

“…This observation is even more interesting since both the S100A2 and the involucrin genes are likely involved in the process of keratinization, being part of the so-called epidermal differentiation complex (Mischke et al, 1996). It is interesting, in this respect, to recall that involucrin, whose gene is associated with that of S100A2, has prognostic significance in laryngeal SCC (Roland et al, 1996) similar to that of S100A2. Moreover, these results are in line with the suggestion that S100A2 is a tumor-suppressor candidate and its expression in tumor cells is repressed by site-specific hypermethylation (Wicki et al, 1997).…”

Identification of distinct layers within the stratified squamous epithelium of the adult human true vocal fold

“…24 Of note, an association between involucrin expression and well-differentiated tumors has been demonstrated in several studies. 25,26 …”

Significance of Immunohistochemical Expression of p27 and Involucrin as the Marker of Cellular Differentiation of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus

“…Although involucrin has been considered to be a possible marker of differentiation of SCC [32,33,34], putatively including esophageal carcinoma, the biological significance of involucrin expression in esophageal SCC has been studied in only a few investigations [35,36,37]. …”