Overexpression of BST2 is associated with nodal metastasis and poorer prognosis in oral cavity cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Bone marrow stromal cell antigen 2 (BST2) was one of the proteins that were found to be related to tumor metastasis in our previous proteomic study. Now we examine its clinical role on the oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).


METHODS
Individual retrospective cohort study and basic research.


METHODS
Immunohistochemical analysis, Western blotting, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to demonstrate the expression levels of BST2 on 159 OSCC tumors. RNA interference was utilized for cell migration and proliferation study in vitro.


RESULTS
BST2 expression was significantly higher in OSCC cells of metastatic lymph nodes and primary tumor cells, compared to adjacent normal epithelia. Higher BST2 expression was associated with positive N stage, advanced overall stage, perineural invasion, and tumor depth (P = .049, .015, .021, and .010, respectively). OSCC patients with higher BST2 expression had poorer prognosis for disease-specific and disease-free survival (P = .009 and .001, respectively). Multivariate analyses also demonstrated that higher BST2 expression is an independent prognostic factor of disease-specific and disease-free survival (P = .047 and .013, respectively). In vitro suppression of BST2 expression in OEC-M1 cells showed that BST2 contributes to tumor migration of OSCC cells.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings in this study indicate that BST2 expression in OSCC tumors is an independent prognostic factor of patient survival and associated with tumor metastasis.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan.
Ku-Hao
KH
Fang
Huang-Kai
HK
Kao
Lang-Ming
LM
Chi
Ying
Y
Liang
Shiau-Chin
SC
Liu
Chuen
C
Hseuh
Chun-Ta
CT
Liao
Tzu-Chen
TC
Yen
Jau-Song
JS
Yu
Kai-Ping
KP
Chang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000235:genetics*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D055815:Young Adult; D000074010:Bone Marrow Stromal Antigen 2
D015703:Antigens, CD; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins; C094572:BST2 protein, human; D000074010:Bone Marrow Stromal Antigen 2
BST2; Oral cancer; head and neck; metastasis; oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma; squamous cell carcinoma; tumor marker