title: Increased placenta growth factor mRNA level is significantly associated with progression, recurrence and poor prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Expression of placenta growth factor (PlGF) mRNA is shown to correlate with the progression and prognosis of several human cancers. In this study, we assessed whether the PlGF mRNA level in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissue could be used to predict the progression and prognosis of OSCCs in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (quantitative RT-PCR) to detect the PlGF mRNA levels in 63 paired OSCC and adjacent normal-looking oral mucosa (non-OSCC) tissues. Threshold cycle (CT) was defined as the PCR cycle number needed to generate a pre-determined amount of DNA (threshold). For a chosen threshold, a smaller starting copy number of mRNA results in a higher CT value. In this study, the relative expression level of tissue PlGF mRNA in each OSCC patients was expressed as -ΔCT = -(OSCC CT - non-OSCC CT). Thus, the higher the -ΔCT, the greater the copy number of PlGF mRNA in tissues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that the higher mean PlGF mRNA -ΔCT value was significantly associated with OSCCs with larger tumor size (p = 0.03), positive lymph node metastasis (p = 0.003), more advanced clinical stages (p = 0.013) or the presence of loco-regional recurrence (p = 0.039). Positive lymph node metastasis (p = 0.019) and PlGF mRNA -ΔCT value >2 (p = 0.016) were identified as two independent unfavorable prognosis factors by multivariate analyses with Cox regression model. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier curve showed that OSCC patients with a PlGF mRNA -ΔCT value >2 had a significantly poorer recurrence-free survival than those with a PlGF mRNA -ΔCT value ≤2 (log-rank test, p = 0.017).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The OSCC tissue PlGF mRNA level can be used to predict the progression and prognosis of OSCCs in Taiwan.
authors: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: Shih-Jung
authors: SJ
authors: Cheng
authors: Shih-Lung
authors: SL
authors: Cheng
authors: Jang-Jaer
authors: JJ
authors: Lee
authors: Hsin-Ming
authors: HM
authors: Chen
authors: Hao-Hueng
authors: HH
authors: Chang
authors: Sang-Heng
authors: SH
authors: Kok
authors: Meng Ling
authors: ML
authors: Chiang
authors: Mark Yen-Ping
authors: MY
authors: Kuo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000209:etiology*; D000072483:Placenta Growth Factor; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: C000608036:PGF protein, human; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000072483:Placenta Growth Factor