Immunohistochemical analysis of EGFR and hyaluronan in tongue cancer and the development of regional recurrence in patients initially diagnosed N0

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether the extent of expression of hyaluronan (HA) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in squamous cell carcinoma of the mobile tongue can predict the risk of cervical metastasis and survival.

Study design: Retrospective histopathologic study.

Methods: Surgical specimens from 64 patients who had undergone surgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the mobile tongue were assessed using immunohistochemistry to investigate the expression of HA and EGFR in the primary tumours, and the data were then correlated to cervical metastasis and survival.

Results: There was a significant correlation between the intensity of HA staining and patient survival (p .024), and a weak correlation between the staining proportion of EGFR and the risk for regional recurrence (AUC 66).

Conclusions: This study indicates that immunoscoring using HA could be used to provide prognostic tools for tongue cancer, and that it might be of interest to study the prognostic properties of EGFR further concerning the risk for regional recurrence after the primary treatment.

Chinese abstract

目的: 探讨移动舌癌鳞状细胞癌中透明质酸 (HA) 和表皮生长因子受体 (EGFR) 的表达程度是否可以预测颈癌扩散的危险性和存活。

研究设计: 回顾性组织病理学研究。

方法: 采用免疫组织化学法检测接受手术的64例移动舌鳞状细胞癌患者的原发肿瘤中HA和EGFR的表达, 并研究其结果与颈转移和生存率的相关性。

结果: HA染色强度与患者存活率 (p 0.024) 之间存在显着相关性, EGFR染色比例与局部复发风险 (AUC 66) 之间存在较弱的相关性。

结论: 本研究表明, 使用HA的免疫印迹可用于提供舌癌的预后工具；并且, 对于进一步关于初级治疗后区域性复发的风险, 研究EGFR的预后性质可能有益。

Keywords:

• Epidermal growth factor receptor expression
• immunoscoring
• oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma
• prognostic factors
• biomarkers

Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank Cathrine Johansson and Astrid Höglund for skilful technical assistance, and the general support of Dr. Björn Sjöström at the ENT Department at Umeå University. This study was supported by grants from Lion’s Cancer Research Foundation, Umeå University, ALF grants from Uppsala University Hospital, and the Acta Otolaryngologica Foundation.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by grants from Lion’s Cancer Research Foundation, Umeå University, ALF grants from Uppsala University Hospital, and the Acta Otolaryngologica Foundation.