title: Survivin expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: A series of 110 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) together with six lymph node and one distant metastatic lesions was analysed for expression of survivin, a recent apoptosis inhibitor, by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. In total, 91 cases (82.7%) of carcinoma and all metastasis (seven cases, 100%) were positive for survivin expression, with weighted survivin scores ranging from 1 to 4. In contrast, normal oral epithelium did not express survivin. There was no significant correlation between survivin expression and age, sex, tumour size, the presence of lymph node and distant metastases. Survivin expression was increased in poorly differentiated tumours, even if differences were not statistically significant. In contrast, when analysed for prognostic significance, patients with low survivin expression had statistically significant better survival rates than the group with high survivin expression (P<0.05). These data suggest that survivin expression may identify cases of oral SCC with more aggressive and invasive phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ancona, Ancona, Italy. llomuzio@tin.it
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lo Muzio
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pannone
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Staibano
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Mignogna
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rubini
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mariggiò
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Procaccini
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Altieri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D008297:Male; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016019:Survival Analysis; D000077022:Survivin
chemical_list: C107489:BIRC5 protein, human; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D000077022:Survivin