title: Increased expression of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is associated with progression and poor prognosis in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a versatile protein with intranuclear and extracellular functions that is involved in numerous biological and pathological processes, such as transcription, DNA repair, and response to infection and inflammation. The expression of HMGB1 has been described in many types of cancers, but the role of HMGB1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is unknown. The aim of this study was to analyse the roles of HMGB1 in NPC progression and clinical outcome using NPC clinical samples. In an immunohistochemical study, HMGB1 had high expression in 89 of 166 cases of NPC (53.6%). HMGB1 overexpression was significantly associated with T classification (p = 0.01), N classification (p = 0.003), distant metastasis (p = 0.046), and clinical stage (p < 0.001). Patients with higher levels of HMGB1 expression had poorer overall survival and disease-free survival, whereas patients with lower levels of HMGB1 expression had better survival. Multivariate analysis showed that HMGB1 expression was an independent prognostic indicator for patient survival. Disruption of endogenous HMGB1 using small interfering RNAs suppressed NPC cell invasive ability. These data support the notion that HMGB1 overexpression has a role in the progression of NPC and hence its poor clinical outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D015870:Gene Expression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D024243:HMGB1 Protein / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000494:pharmacology; D015996:Survival Rate; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D024243:HMGB1 Protein; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering