Correlation of ALDH1, CD44, OCT4 and SOX2 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma and their association with disease progression and prognosis.
BACKGROUND
Recently, studies indicated that cancer stem cell plays a key role in cancer development and progression. However, the role of cancer stem cell has not been well elucidated in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between the expressions of stem cell markers and the prognosis of TSCC.


METHODS
Immunohistochemistry was employed to analyse the protein expression levels of ALDH1, CD44, OCT4 and SOX2 in 66 TSCC tissue samples. The results were then evaluated semiquantitatively and compared with other clinicopathological variables.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemistry revealed that the ALDH1, CD44, OCT4 and SOX2 proteins were overexpressed in the 66 TSCC specimens used in this study. Spearman's correlation analysis showed that the expressions of ALDH1 and CD44 were significantly correlated with SOX2 except other proteins (P < 0.05) and that OCT4 and SOX2 were significantly related (P < 0.01). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that T category, node metastasis, TNM stage, differentiation and distant metastasis were associated with poor patient survival (P < 0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that SOX2, recurrence and distant metastasis were independent prognostic factors of overall survival in patients with TSCC.


CONCLUSIONS
Taken together, these data suggest that the stem cell markers ALDH1, CD44, OCT4 and SOX2 are closely related in TSCC, and the expression of SOX2 can be used as a prognostic indicator of TSCC.
The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Cong-Fa
CF
Huang
Xiao-Rong
XR
Xu
Tian-Fu
TF
Wu
Zhi-Jun
ZJ
Sun
Wen-Feng
WF
Zhang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000556:secondary; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000032:analysis*; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000032:analysis*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000032:analysis*; D011379:Prognosis; D050697:Retinal Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis*; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis*; D012907:Smoking; D015996:Survival Rate; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C497483:CD44 protein, human; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors; D007527:Isoenzymes; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3; C494173:POU5F1 protein, human; C527782:SOX2 protein, human; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; C510223:ALDH1A1 protein, human; D050697:Retinal Dehydrogenase
ALDH1; CD44; OCT4; SOX2; tongue squamous cell carcinoma