Abstract 3879: Expression of sox2 and oct4 in human oral squamous cell carcinoma and its relationship with clinical factors

Abstract

Abstract Background: A cancer stem cell (cancer initiating cell, CSC) is considered capable of self -replication, self-differentiation, drug resistance, and immune evasion. Recently, CSC has become increasingly important in the treatment of malignant tumors. Cancer stem cells express specific molecules termed CSC marker, including sex determining region Y-box2 (SOX2), and octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4), and their expression has been reported to be the potential prognostic values. However, the prognostic values of SOX2 and Oct4 expression in patients with oral cancer are less understood. [Purpose]The aims of present study were to evaluate the expression of SOX2 and Oct4 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and to elucidate the relationships among the CSC marker expression, clinical stages, histological differentiation, the classification of invasion mode, cerebral lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and disease-free survival rate. Materials and Methods: Tissue specimens were obtains from 108 patients with OSCC after surgery or biopsy. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess SOX2 and Oct4 protein using at least 10% staining-positive cells as the definition of positive staining. Results: Immunohistochemical analysis of 108 cases showed that 42 cases (39%) expressed SOX2. There was no significant association between SOX2 expression and tumor size, invasion mode or histological differentiation. However, there was significant association between SOX2 expression and distant metastasis or disease-free survival rate at stage 1 and 2 patients (73 cases). Otherwise, seventy cases (65%) cases of 108 OSCC patients expressed Oct4. There was significant association between Oct4 expression and histological differentiation. There was no significant association between Oct4 expression and tumor size, invasion mode, metastasis, or disease-free survival rate. Conclusions: These findings suggested that the expression of SOX2 may be good marker indicating survival in patients with OSCC. Citation Format: Tetsuya Tamatani, Natsumi Takamaru, Go Ohe, Keiko Kudo, Takaharu Kudo, Akira Takahashi, Yoshiko Yamamura, Kenji Fujisawa, Hirokazu Nagai, Youji Miyamoto. Expression of sox2 and oct4 in human oral squamous cell carcinoma and its relationship with clinical factors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3879. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3879