Correlation between reduced expression of the spindle checkpoint protein BubR1 and bad prognosis in tonsillar carcinomas.
BACKGROUND
Spindle checkpoint proteins such as Mad2 and BubR1 are important for chromosome segregation during mitosis. The aim of the present study was to examine their possible impact on prognosis in tonsillar carcinomas and their relation to clinical variables, the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV), p53 status, and Ki-67 positivity.


METHODS
We examined the expression of Mad2 and BubR1 by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays from 105 patients with tonsillar carcinomas.


RESULTS
BubR1 and Mad2 were both expressed in tonsillar carcinomas. Expression of BubR1 was a significant prognostic factor in univariate survival analysis. In multivariate analyses, BubR1 was a significant prognostic factor together with stage, age, and HPV status p < .01), whereas Mad2 did not show any significant correlations.


CONCLUSIONS
We have shown that BubR1 expression is a novel and strong prognostic factor in tonsillar carcinomas, giving additional information to the TNM stage and other known prognostic factors.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Kirsten
K
Hannisdal
Espen
E
Burum-Auensen
Aasa
A
Schjølberg
Paula M
PM
De Angelis
Ole Petter F
OP
Clausen
D000367:Age Factors; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D064246:Mad2 Proteins; D008297:Male; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014067:Tonsillar Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology
D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C577697:MAD2L1 protein, human; D064246:Mad2 Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C584277:BUB1 protein, human; C090464:Bub1 spindle checkpoint protein; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases