title: Urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) are potential predictive biomarkers in early stage oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC).
abstract: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is often associated with metastatic disease and a poor 5 year survival rate. Patients diagnosed with small tumours generally have a more favourable outcome, but some of these small tumours are aggressive and lead to early death. To avoid harmful overtreatment of patients with favourable prognosis, there is a need for predictive biomarkers that can be used for treatment stratification. In this study we assessed the possibility to use components of the plasminogen activator (PA) system as prognostic markers for OSCC outcome and compared this to the commonly used biomarker Ki-67. A tissue-micro-array (TMA) based immunohistochemical analysis of primary tumour tissue obtained from a North Norwegian cohort of 115 patients diagnosed with OSCC was conducted. The expression of the biomarkers was compared with clinicopathological variables and disease specific death. The statistical analyses revealed that low expression of uPAR (p = 0.031) and PAI-1 (p = 0.021) in the tumour cells was significantly associated with low disease specific death in patients with small tumours and no lymph node metastasis (T1N0). The commonly used biomarker, Ki-67, was not associated with disease specific death in any of the groups of patients analysed. The conclusion is that uPAR and PAI-1 are potential predictive biomarkers in early stage tumours and that this warrants further studies on a larger cohort of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Synnøve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Magnussen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Oddveig G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Rikardsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; Diagnostic Clinic - Clinical Pathology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Elin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hadler-Olsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; Diagnostic Clinic - Clinical Pathology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Uhlin-Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; Diagnostic Clinic - Clinical Pathology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Sonja E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Steigen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Gunbjørg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Svineng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator