title: S100A2, a potential marker for early recurrence in early-stage oral cancer.
abstract: Early-stage oral cancer patients may have distinct clinical outcomes and respond differently to the same treatment. Up to now, there is still no individual marker to identify such patients with poor outcome. Down-regulation of a tumor suppressor gene, S100A2, in oral cancer cells was identified by mRNA profiling analysis then confirmed by RT-PCR and Southern blotting. The expression of nuclear S100A2 protein examined by immunohistochemistry was not significantly associated with any patient characteristic among the 70 early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients. Intriguingly, the loss of nuclear S100A2 positivity was significantly associated with shorter disease-free survival (p=0.019) while having no effect on the overall survival of these patients. Cox regression analysis with backward elimination identified S100A2 (p=0.006), tobacco smoking (p=0.013), and betel quid chewing (p=0.019) as independent predictors of disease-free survival. This is a first study to demonstrate that loss of nuclear S100A2 may serve as an independent prognostic marker for early-stage oral cancer patients at high risk of recurrence. A more aggressive treatment modality and intensive follow-up may be recommended for the patients with reduced expression of S100A2 in tumor cell nuclei.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, 138 Sheng Li Road, Tainan 70428, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Sen-Tien
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Ying-Tai
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Wan-Chi
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Shan-Tair
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yen-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Mei-Tzu
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Li-Wha
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D012008:Recurrence; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D009418:S100 Proteins; C098997:S100A2 protein, human