Prognostic significance of nm23-H1 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Recent studies indicated nm23-H1 played a role in cancer progression. Therefore, we investigated clinical significance of nm23-H1 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In total, 86 OSCC specimens were immunohistochemically stained with nm23-H1-specific monoclonal antibodies. Immunohistochemical staining of nm23-H1 was confirmed by immunoblotting. The relations between nm23-H1 expression and clinicopathologic variables were evaluated by w 2 analysis. As increased size of primary tumour could escalate metastatic potential and the data of patients at the late T stage might confound statistical analyses, we thus paid special attention to 54 patients at the early T stage of OSCC. Statistical difference of survival was compared by a log-rank test. Immunohistochemically, nm23-H1 expression was detected in 48.8% (42 out of 86) of tumorous specimens. It positively correlated with larger primary tumour size (P ¼ 0.03) and inversely with cigarette-smoking habit (P ¼ 0.042). In patients at the early T stage, decreased nm23 expression was associated with increased incidence of lymph node metastasis (P ¼ 0.004) and indicated poor survival (P ¼ 0.014). Tumour nm23-H1 expression is a prognostic factor for predicting better survival in OSCC patients at the early T stage, which may reflect antimetastatic potential of nm23. Therefore, modulation of nm23-H1 expression in cancer cells can provide a novel possibility of improving therapeutic strategy at this stage. In addition, our results further indicated cigarette smoking could aggravate the extent of nm23-H1 expression and possibly disease progression of OSCC patients.

Nm23‐H1 expression of metastatic tumors in the lymph nodes is a prognostic indicator of oral squamous cell carcinoma

“…In addition, it is worth noting that carcinogenesis is a multifactorial process: a specific factor might play a certain role only within a defined period during disease progression; at other times, the effect of this factor might change. 6,[23][24][25][26] As shown in our report, 6 there was a dynamic change revealing Nm23-H1 overexpression originally in the primary oral cancers followed by a decreased level observed in their metastatic lymph nodes. The similar results were also demonstrated in other studies on several tumor types and this fact could cause the conflicting data because of different sampling points during tumor development.…”

“…27,28 In the published literature, there is a paucity of studies concerning the prognostic significance of Nm23-H1 expression for OSCC patients. 6,12,29 Of these reports, our series is the largest one particularly focusing on OSCC without including other head and neck cancers. 6 We noted the reduced Nm23-H1 expression was associated with the occurrence of lymphatic metastasis.…”

“…6,12,29 Of these reports, our series is the largest one particularly focusing on OSCC without including other head and neck cancers. 6 We noted the reduced Nm23-H1 expression was associated with the occurrence of lymphatic metastasis. …”

“…Previous studies reported that more than half of the patients with resectable OSCCs had lymphatic spreading at diagnosis. 5,6 It is clinically relevant to assess whether a patient has or will develop lymphatic metastasis of OSCC. Moreover, there is evidence that a basic mechanism underlies the differential outcomes between patients of a small oral tumor with abundant metastases presenting poorer prognosis and those of a large primary lesion without lymphatic dissemination obtaining better survival.…”

Targeting Tumor Metastasis by Regulating Nm23 Gene Expression

“…Similar trends were identified in other model systems. Low Nm23-H1expression in human tumors often correlated with poor patient survival although it is not considered to be an independent prognostic factor (Wang et al, 2004;Branca et al, 2006). Importantly, the transfection of Nm23 into highly metastatic K-1735 melanoma cells reduced their in vivo metastatic ability by 52% to 96%, with no effect on the primary tumor size.…”