Abstract
Metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) has been associated with poor prognosis in several carcinomas. Recent investigation has found that in different tumors, MTA1 protein significantly correlates with tumor angiogenesis, suggesting that MTA1 may be a possible angiogenesis-promoting molecule in malignant tumors. Thus, the current study was performed to determine the role of MTA1 protein in the biological behavior of oral squamous cell carcinoma and its relation with tumor angiogenesis. In this study, 44 oral squamous cell carcinomas and 15 normal epitheliums were reviewed by IHC staining for MTA1 and CD105. Frequency of MTA1 expression in SCCs was recorded as 97.7%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (33.3%). Mean percentage of MTA1 expression in oral squamous cell carcinomas was 76.88 ± 25.33% which was significantly higher than that of the control group (22.81 ± 10.83). Our data showed a correlation between MTA1 expression with lymph node metastasis, tumor size and, stage. Evaluation of the correlation between MTA1 protein expression and micro vessel density showed that high micro vessel density was detected more frequently in tumors with MTA1 protein overexpression than in those without overexpression. In the present study, high expression of the MTA1 protein was seen in oral squamous cell carcinoma, and was closely associated with tumor progression and increased tumor angiogenesis. The findings may indicate that MTA1 protein has clinical potentials as a useful indicator of progressive phenotype, a promising prognostic predictor to identify patients with poor prognosis and may be a potential novel therapeutic target of anti-angiogenesis for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Highlights
Oral cancer is the eleventh most common cancer in the world, and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) constitutes approximately 94% of all oral malignancies
In the present study, high expression of the Metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) protein was seen in oral squamous cell carcinoma, and was closely associated with tumor progression and increased tumor angiogenesis
The findings may indicate that MTA1 protein has clinical potentials as a useful indicator of progressive phenotype, a promising prognostic predictor to identify patients with poor prognosis and may be a potential novel therapeutic target of anti-angiogenesis for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma
Summary
Oral cancer is the eleventh most common cancer in the world, and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) constitutes approximately 94% of all oral malignancies. Considerable differences in survival exist among patients with the same pathologic stage, so it is not sufficient to accurately predict a patient’s prognosis on the basis of the current staging system alone [2,3]. It is necessary to find novel biomarkers that could be used as predictors so that the conventional staging system risk stratification can be improved [4]. These biomarkers can help us to find patients who will benefit from adjuvant therapy with poor prognosis after surgery [5]
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