title: PKCα promotes local advancement via its dual roles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), PKCα is linked to local advancement and plays dual roles in tumorigenesis. Moreover, positive PKCα is associated with 2-year overall survival of NPC.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study seeks to investigate the role of PKCα to identify different sub-types in NPC.
  
  
  METHODS
  PKCα expression levels were detected in a collection of NPC samples. CT and MRI scans of the corresponding patients were used to assess adjacent tissue invasion and lymph node metastasis. The correlation of tumour invasion and PKCα levels was evaluated by statistical analysis. The correlation between expression level of PKCα and 2-year overall survival was analysed by the Kaplan-Meier curves. Moreover, a multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to identify the independent prognostic factors for NPC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PKCα is linked to the invasion of adjacent tissues, especially in the skull base. However, down-regulation of PKCα is a risk factor for regional lymph node metastasis. The 2-year overall survival of the PKCα negative group is better than that of the PKCα positive group (PKCα negative group 100%, PKCα positive group 88.5%, p = 0.034). Based on the multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, age was identified as a risk factor.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Oncology , Xiangya Hospital, Central South University , Changsha , PR China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Oncology , Xiangya Hospital, Central South University , Changsha , PR China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: b Department of Pathology , Xiangya Hospital, Central South University , Changsha , PR China.
authors.forename: Yumei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Oncology , Xiangya Hospital, Central South University , Changsha , PR China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: c Department of Pathology , The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University , Changsha , PR China.
authors.forename: Zhijiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: d Department of Pathology , The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University , Changsha , PR China.
authors.forename: Jianghai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Oncology , Xiangya Hospital, Central South University , Changsha , PR China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: a Department of Oncology , Xiangya Hospital, Central South University , Changsha , PR China.
authors.forename: Liangfang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D051571:Protein Kinase C-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D051571:Protein Kinase C-alpha
keywords: PKCα; locally advanced; nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); overall survival; regional lymph node metastasis; skull base