Value of ezrin, maspin and nm23-H1 protein expressions in predicting outcome of patients with head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma treated with radical radiotherapy.
BACKGROUND
Prognostic factors in predicting outcomes in patients with head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are limited to the clinical-pathological parameters, including lymph node metastasis, location, grade and stage of the disease.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the expression of these proteins has a value in predicting patient outcome.


METHODS
Ezrin, maspin and nm23-H1 immunohistochemistry in tissue samples of 120 patients with HNSCC were evaluated using the microarray technique.


RESULTS
In determining the association among each of the three proteins and the clinical-pathological parameters, low maspin expression was the only one found to be significantly associated with high tumour grade (p = 0.007); all others showed no significant associations. In univariate analysis, patients with tumours expressing high ezrin had a shorter disease-free survival (DFS) of 51% than those with low ezrin expression (DFS 84%; p = 0.08). In multivariate analysis, tumours with the combination of loss of maspin and low histological grade had longer DFS (83%) compared with those with high maspin and high histological grade (DFS 42%; p = 0.08).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study is the first to determine the value of ezrin and maspin in HNSCC in a large series of patients with long follow-up. Ezrin and maspin seem to have a potential prognostic value in patients with HNSCC but results should be confirmed with further studies.
Mhawech-Fauceglia
Paulette
P
Department of Pathology, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland. pmhawech1@yahoo.com
Dulguerov
Pavel
P
Beck
Amy
A
Bonet
Marta
M
Allal
Abdelkarim S
AS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054778:NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009701:Nucleoside-Diphosphate Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015843:Serpins / Q000378:metabolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000099149:Ezrin
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D054778:NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009701:Nucleoside-Diphosphate Kinase; D015843:Serpins; D000099149:Ezrin; C085344:SERPIN-B5; C517938:NME1 protein, human