title: RAR beta2 suppression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma correlates with site, histology and age.
abstract: Retinoids as important growth and differentiation regulating agents have a potential role in the chemoprevention of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Despite the promising preclinical and early clinical findings, limitations of application are raised by intrinsic resistance acquired during carcinogenesis. Retinoic acid receptor beta2 (RAR beta2) is one of the proximate mediators of retinoid signalling and its expression is often diminished in early stages of head and neck carcinogenesis. One form of retinoid resistance has been associated with the methylation-induced silencing of the RAR beta gene. We studied primary HNSCC samples of different anatomical sites in respect of methylation, expression and allelic loss of RAR beta gene. A strong correlation (p<0.01) was found between hyper-methylation and reduced expression of RAR beta2, however the allelic loss at 3p24, the locus of RAR beta, did not considerably influence its mRNA level. Hypopharynx tumors showed significantly lower hypermethylation (p<0.05) and higher mRNA expression levels of RAR beta2 compared to the tumors located at other sites of the head and neck. We could also provide evidence that poorly differentiated grade 3 tumors had significantly higher RAR beta2 expression and lower methylation levels (p<0.05) than better differentiated grade 1 and grade 2 tumors. In addition, we found a good correlation between the methylation degree of the RAR beta2 promoter and the ages of patients. Collectively, our results suggest that evaluation of several factors such as tumor location, age, histology and methylation state of the RAR beta gene might contribute to the selection of patients for retinoid-based chemoprevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenetics, National Institute of Oncology, 1122 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Judit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olasz
authors.forename: Alíz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Juhász
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Remenár
authors.forename: Helga
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Engi
authors.forename: Mihály
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bak
authors.forename: Orsolya
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Csuka
authors.forename: Miklós
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kásler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; C082925:retinoic acid receptor beta