Oral carcinoma with perineural invasion has higher nerve growth factor expression and worse prognosis

Abstract

Perineural invasion is the indicator of worst prognosis. As NGF immunoreactivity was found to be associated with PNI and nodal metastasis, the NGF immunoreactivity of oral carcinoma revealed by diagnostic biopsy suggests that alternative therapeutic approaches might be appropriate.

Perineural invasion and expression of nerve growth factor can predict the progression and prognosis of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

“…Because NGF protein can promote cancer cell migration and invasion, up-regulate the production of MMP-2, and enhance cancer angiogenesis, it is not difficult to explain why elevated expression of NGF and activation of TrkA can increase cancer cell metastasis. Indeed, a significant association of NGF over-expression with lymph node metastasis was discovered in this study and has also been found in OSCCs (12) and esophageal SCCs (18).…”

“…This study showed an intraneural invasion rate of 6.9% J Oral Pathol Med in 116 OTSCCs, suggesting that the intraneural invasion is a relatively rare event in OTSCCs. Previous studies have shown a significant association of the PNI with positive lymph node metastases or worse survival in oral and oropharyngeal SCC (3), T1-2N0 OTSCC (8), and OSCC patients (12,20). The positive PNI is also significantly related to distant metastasis, local or regional recurrence, and tumor differentiation in oral and oropharyngeal SCCs (3).…”

Adjuvant radiotherapy for early head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with perineural invasion: A systematic review

“…Perineural invasion (PNI), the histologic finding of nerve invasion by tumor cells, is generally accepted as a poor prognostic factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and has been associated with increased locoregional recurrence and decreased survival . PNI has also been shown to predict concurrent cervical lymph node metastasis, an important negative prognostic factor in early oral cavity cancer . However, the optimal treatment regimen for patients with early head and neck cancer with PNI remains a topic of significant debate …”

Individual and co-expression patterns of nerve growth factor and heme oxygenase-1 predict shorter survival of gastric carcinoma patients

“…In contrast, binding of NGF or precursor of NGF (proNGF) to p75 NTR could induce cell survival or could be pro-apoptotic [1]; therefore, as a consequence, there are conflicting reports for the role of NGF-related signaling in human malignant tumors. An oncogenic role of NGF has been supported by reports that NGF and NGFR participate in the progression of various human cancers, such as breast cancer [4, 5], ovarian cancer [6], pancreatic cancer [7], oral carcinoma [8, 9], and salivary gland cancer [10]. In addition, the expression patterns of NGF or TrkA were associated with poor prognosis of tongue cancer [9], pancreatic cancer [7], and breast cancer [5, 11].…”