ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Prognostic value of activated Akt expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma
1 Department of Oral Pathology, Dental School, Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University, 28-2 Yongon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea
2 Department of Dentistry, Pundang Jesaeng Hospital, Pundang-gu, Kyounggi-do 463-774, Korea
3 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental School, Seoul National University
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr S-P Hong
Department of Oral Pathology, Dental School, Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University, 28-2 Yongon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea; zjon0224{at}snu.ac.kr
Background: Akt is a serine/threonine kinase that plays an important role in tumorigenesis and influences prognosis in several cancers. However, its importance in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) has not been elucidated.
Aim: To investigate the association between the expression of activated Akt, clinicopathological factors, and E-cadherin, PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen), and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) expression to verify the validity of Akt as a prognostic factor in OSCC.
Methods: Phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), E-cadherin, PCNA, and VEGF expression were assessed immunohistochemically in 84 OSCCs. The results were analysed in relation to clinicopathological factors.
Results: p-Akt was expressed in 29 cases. It was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and E-cadherin expression. Univariate analysis showed that p-Akt expression, E-cadherin expression, PCNA expression, differentiation, tumour size, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and recurrence correlated with prognosis. Multivariate analysis showed that p-Akt expression is an independent prognostic factor in patients with OSCC.
Conclusions: This study revealed that Akt activation is a significant prognostic indicator for OSCC and is correlated with E-cadherin expression. The inhibition of Akt is a possible molecular approach to the treatment of OSCC.
Abbreviations: LI, labelling index; OSCC, oral squamous cell carcinoma; PBS, phosphate buffered saline; p-Akt, phosphorylated Akt; PCNA, proliferating cell nuclear antigen; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor
Keywords: oral squamous cell carcinoma; Akt; E-cadherin; prognostic factor
![]()
CiteULike
Complore
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Technorati What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Burns, J. A., Li, Y., Cheney, C. A., Ou, Y., Franlin-Pfeifer, L. L., Kuklin, N., Zhang, Z.-Q.
(2009). Choice of Fixative Is Crucial to Successful Immunohistochemical Detection of Phosphoproteins in Paraffin-embedded Tumor Tissues. J. Histochem. Cytochem.
57: 257-264
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Johnson, T. L., Lai, M. B., Lai, J. C. K., Bhushan, A.
(2008). Inhibition of Cell Proliferation and MAP Kinase and Akt Pathways in Oral Squamous cell Carcinoma by Genistein and Biochanin A. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
0: nen011v1-nen011
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Choe, M. S., Chen, Z., Klass, C. M., Zhang, X., Shin, D. M.
(2007). Enhancement of Docetaxel-Induced Cytotoxicity by Blocking Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and Cyclooxygenase-2 Pathways in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck. Clin. Cancer Res.
13: 3015-3023
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Yu, Z., Weinberger, P. M., Sasaki, C., Egleston, B. L., Speier, W. F. IV, Haffty, B., Kowalski, D., Camp, R., Rimm, D., Vairaktaris, E., Burtness, B., Psyrri, A.
(2007). Phosphorylation of Akt (Ser473) Predicts Poor Clinical Outcome in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Cancer. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev.
16: 553-558
[Abstract] [Full Text]
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
