Immunohistochemical Study to Evaluate the Prognostic Significance of Four Biomolecular Markers in Radiotherapy of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
10.3857/jkstro.2010.28.2.57
- Author:
Yeon Joo KIM
1
;
Seung Hee LEE
;
Hong Gyun WU
;
Heounjeong GO
;
Yoon Kyung JEON
Author Information
1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. wuhg@snu.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma;
Radiotherapy;
Prognostic factor;
Immunohistochemical staining;
Met
- MeSH:
Biopsy;
Carcinoma;
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell;
Follow-Up Studies;
Humans;
Multivariate Analysis;
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms;
Paraffin;
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor
- From:The Journal of the Korean Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
2010;28(2):57-63
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: We performed an immunohistochemical study with pre-treatment biopsy specimens to evaluate the prognostic significance of four biomolecular markers which can be used as a predictive assay for radiotherapy (RT) treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 1998 through December 2006, 68 patients were histologically diagnosed as non-metastatic NPC and treated by RT. Only 38 patients had the paraffin block for the immunohistochemical study. Thirty-one patients had undifferentiated carcinoma and 7 patients had squamous cell carcinoma. Thirty-two patients (84%) had advanced stage NPC (2002 AJCC Stage III~IV). Immunohistochemical staining was performed for Met, COX-2, nm23-H1, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression using routine methods. RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 30 months (range, 11 to 83 months) for all patients, and 39 months (range, 19 to 83 months) for surviving patients. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of the patients with high Met extent (> or =50%) was significantly lower than that of the patients with low Met extent (48% vs. 84%, p=0.02). In addition, Met extent was also a significant prognostic factor in multivariate analysis (p=0.01). No correlation was observed between Met extent and T stage, N stage, stage group, gender, age, and the response to chemotherapy or RT. Met extent showed moderate correlation with COX-2 expression (Pearson coefficient 0.496, p<0.01), but COX-2 expression did not affect OS. Neither nm23-H1 or EGFR expression was a prognostic factor for OS in this study. CONCLUSION: High Met extent (> or =50%) might be an independent prognostic factor that predicts poor OS in NPC treated with RT.
