title: High nuclear protein kinase Cθ expression may correlate with disease recurrence and poor survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: Protein kinase Cs play important roles in many biological processes and tumorigenesis. This study examined the expression of protein kinase Cθ and assessed its significance in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining was carried out to investigate the expression of protein kinase Cθ in 59 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma. The results were correlated with clinical characteristics and outcome of patients. Diffuse cytoplasmic protein kinase Cθ was identified in 53 (89.8%) of the 59 oral squamous cell carcinoma cases, and the expression was not statistically associated with any clinicopathologic parameter. Twenty (40.7%) of the 59 oral squamous cell carcinoma cases exhibited nuclear expression of protein kinase Cθ with different grade of intensity. χ(2) analysis indicated that high nuclear protein kinase Cθ expression correlated significantly with shorter 24-month survival (P = .043) and disease recurrence (P = .019). The Kaplan-Meier method also showed that high nuclear expression of protein kinase Cθ was significantly associated with poor overall survival (P = .034) and shorter time to recurrence (P = .003). Univariate analysis revealed that high nuclear protein kinase Cθ expression (P = .046; hazard ratio, 2.2), tumor size less than 2 cm (P = .049; hazard ratio, 4.7), lymph node metastasis (P = .003; hazard ratio, 3.0), and higher stage (P = .002; hazard ratio, 8.7) were each associated with shorter overall survival. We identified the aberrant nuclear expression of protein kinase Cθ in oral squamous cell carcinoma. High nuclear protein kinase Cθ expression may correlate with disease recurrence and poor survival in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, St. Martin De Porres Hospital, Chiayi 600, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pei-Yi
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Nicholas Chung-Heng
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Hui-Chun
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Chung-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Shu-Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ming-Feng
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Kun-Tu
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Yeh
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000201:enzymology / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism*; D000074121:Protein Kinase C-theta; D015996:Survival Rate; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; C076233:PRKCQ protein, human; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D000074121:Protein Kinase C-theta