Clinical significance of cellular distribution of moesin in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Moesin is a linking protein of the submembraneous cytoskeleton and plays a key role in the control of cell morphology, adhesion, and motility. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the clinical significance of expression patterns of moesin in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).


METHODS
Immunohistochemistry for moesin monoclonal antibody was performed on 103 paraffin-embedded specimens from patients with primary OSCC, including 30 patients with locoregional lymph node metastasis, and in the sections from nude mice transplanted with two cell lines derived from a single human tongue cancer (SQUU-A and SQUU-B).


RESULTS
Expression patterns of moesin in OSCCs were divided into three groups: membranous pattern; mixed pattern; and cytoplasmic pattern. These expression patterns correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, mode of invasion, differentiation, and lymphocytic infiltration. In about two-thirds of the patients with metastatic lymph node, homogeneous cytoplasmic expression was detected in the metastatic lymph nodes. In addition, SQUU-B with high metastatic potential showed more reduced levels of membrane-bound moesin than SQUU-A with low metastatic potential. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that expression patterns of moesin can be an independent prognostic factor.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that moesin expression contributed to discriminating between patients with the potentiality for locoregional lymph node metastasis and those with a better prognosis and might improve the definition of suitable therapy for each.
Kobayashi
Hiroichi
H
Department of Dentistry and Oral Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Asahi, Matsumoto, Japan. h-koba@hsp.md.shinshu-u.ac.jp
Sagara
Junji
J
Kurita
Hiroshi
H
Morifuji
Masayo
M
Ohishi
Masamichi
M
Kurashina
Kenji
K
Taniguchi
Shun'ichiro
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011379:Prognosis; D013997:Time Factors
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; C071058:moesin