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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jcp.2006.036624v1 jcp.2006.036624v2 jcp.2006.036624v3 60/2/185    most recent Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mhawech-Fauceglia, P. Articles by Allal, A. S Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mhawech-Fauceglia, P. Articles by Allal, A. S

Value of ezrin, maspin and nm23-H1 protein expressions in predicting outcome of patients with head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma treated with radical radiotherapy

¹ Department of Pathology, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
² Division of Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
³ Division of Radiation Oncology, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland

Correspondence to:
Dr P Mhawech-Fauceglia
Department of Pathology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Elm and Carlton Street, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA; pmhawech1{at}yahoo.com Background: Prognostic factors in predicting outcomes in patients with head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are limited to the clinical–pathological parameters, including lymph node metastasis, location, grade and stage of the disease.

Aim: To determine whether the expression of these proteins has a value in predicting patient outcome.

Methods: Ezrin, maspin and nm23-H1 immunohistochemistry in tissue samples of 120 patients with HNSCC were evaluated using the microarray technique.

Results: In determining the association among each of the three proteins and the clinical–pathological parameters, low maspin expression was the only one found to be significantly associated with high tumour grade (p = 0.007); all others showed no significant associations. In univariate analysis, patients with tumours expressing high ezrin had a shorter disease-free survival (DFS) of 51% than those with low ezrin expression (DFS 84%; p = 0.08). In multivariate analysis, tumours with the combination of loss of maspin and low histological grade had longer DFS (83%) compared with those with high maspin and high histological grade (DFS 42%; p = 0.08).

Conclusion: Our study is the first to determine the value of ezrin and maspin in HNSCC in a large series of patients with long follow-up. Ezrin and maspin seem to have a potential prognostic value in patients with HNSCC but results should be confirmed with further studies.