title: Immunohistochemical localization of the NM23 protein in salivary gland neoplasms with distinct biological behavior.
abstract: The NM23 protein was shown to be associated with metastasis suppression in human malignancies with various tissue origins. However, its association with the metastatic phenotype of salivary gland neoplasms (SGN) remains unknown. To evaluate the role of NM23 in SGN, the expression patterns of NM23 in the following were compared: benign (pleomorphic adenoma) vs malignant (adenoid cystic carcinoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma) SGN, and primary malignancies with/without evidence of metastasis vs their metastatic implants (MI). The lesions were studied immunohistochemically. NM23 protein was found in the cytoplasm of 75% of benign SGN, 73.3% of primary SGN malignancies with no evidence of metastasis, 86.6% of primary SGN malignancies with evidence of metastasis, and 60% of MI. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of NM23-positive cells between benign and primary malignant tumors (p = 0.79), nor between primary malignancies with/without evidence of metastasis and MI (p = 0.51). However, nuclear NM23 protein was restricted to primary SGN malignancies with evidence of metastasis and MI. The presence of nuclear NM23 protein may be a good marker for predicting the metastatic potential of SGN malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kelen Christine
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: do Nascimento
authors.forename: Paulo Rogério
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: de Faria
authors.forename: Luciano Lauria
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Dib
authors.forename: Maria Cássia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ferreira de Aguiar
authors.forename: Sérgio Vitorino
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: Jucheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Adriano Mota
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Loyola
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D054778:NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009701:Nucleoside-Diphosphate Kinase / Q000032:analysis*; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D054778:NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases; C517938:NME1 protein, human; D009701:Nucleoside-Diphosphate Kinase