High LC3 expression correlates with poor survival in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a destructive disease with very poor prognosis and no effective treatment. Autophagy is a dynamic cellular process involved in various physiological processes and diseases including cancer that degrades cytoplasmic proteins and organelles. The role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of OSCC is not yet understood. Microtubule-associated protein light chains 3 (LC3) is a reliable autophagosome markers for monitoring autophagy. In the present study, LC3 expression was determined in a cohort of 90 OSCC samples by immunohistochemistry. The results were correlated with clinical and pathological characteristics of patients. High LC3 expression (N = 57; 63.3%) correlated with stage (P < .0001), tumor size (P < .0001), and lymph node involvement (P = .0003) and with an increased risk of death (P < .0001; hazard ratio, 3.59) in a univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis adjusted for grade, stage, and alcohol, betel, and tobacco consumption, high LC3 expression retained statistical significance with regard to survival (P = .0043; hazard ratio, 2.99). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve also showed that high LC3 expression was significantly associated with poor overall survival (P = .0001). Elevated LC3 expression, which corresponds to increased level of autophagy activity, is a frequent event and an indicator of poor prognosis in human OSCC.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Radiation Oncology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Cancer Center, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan.
Jen-Yang
JY
Tang
Edward
E
Hsi
Ya-Chun
YC
Huang
Nicholas Chung-Heng
NC
Hsu
Pei-Yi
PY
Chu
Chee-Yin
CY
Chai
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001343:Autophagy; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C477012:MAP1LC3A protein, human; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins
Autophagy; Immunohistochemistry; Microtubule-associated protein light chains 3; Oral squamous cell carcinoma; Survival