title: Lysyl oxidase expression is an independent marker of prognosis and a predictor of lymph node metastasis in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
abstract: Proteins of the lysyl oxidase (LOX) family are important modulators of the extracellular matrix. However, they have an important role in the tumour development as well as in tumour progression. To evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of the LOX protein in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) we performed QRT-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis on two tissue microarrays (622 tissue samples in total). Significantly higher LOX expression was detected in high grade dysplastic oral mucosa as well as in OSCC when compared to normal oral mucosa (P < 0.001). High LOX expression was correlated with clinical TNM stage (P = 0.020), lymph node metastases for the entire cohort (P < 0.001), as well as in the subgroup of small primary tumours (T1/T2, P < 0.001). Moreover, high LOX expression was correlated with poor overall survival (P = 0.004) and disease specific survival (P = 0.037). In a multivariate analysis, high LOX expression was an independent prognostic factor, predicting unfavourable overall survival. In summary, LOX expression is an independent prognostic biomarker and a predictor of lymph node metastasis in OSCC. Moreover, LOX overexpression may be an early phenomenon in the pathogenesis of OSCC and thus an attractive novel target for chemopreventive and therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albinger-Hegyi
authors.forename: Sandro J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Stoeckli
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Storz
authors.forename: Guergana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Iotzova
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Probst-Hensch
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rehrauer
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tinguely
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moch
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hegyi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D008249:Protein-Lysine 6-Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D017741:Survivors
chemical_list: D008249:Protein-Lysine 6-Oxidase