Early Detection and Diagnosis

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Novel markers for poor prognosis in head and neck cancer

  1. David Chin1,4,5,†,*,
  2. Glen M. Boyle1,
  3. Rebecca M. Williams3,
  4. Kaltin Ferguson1,
  5. Nirmala Pandeya2,
  6. Julie Pedley1,
  7. Catherine M. Campbell3,
  8. David R. Theile4,
  9. Peter G. Parsons1,
  10. William B. Coman5

Article first published online: 21 OCT 2004

DOI: 10.1002/ijc.20608

Issue

International Journal of Cancer

International Journal of Cancer

Volume 113, Issue 5, pages 789–797, 20 February 2005

Additional Information

How to Cite

Chin, D., Boyle, G. M., Williams, R. M., Ferguson, K., Pandeya, N., Pedley, J., Campbell, C. M., Theile, D. R., Parsons, P. G. and Coman, W. B. (2005), Novel markers for poor prognosis in head and neck cancer. Int. J. Cancer, 113: 789–797. doi: 10.1002/ijc.20608

Author Information

  1. 1

    Melanoma Genomics Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

  2. 2

    Cancer and Population Studies Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

  3. 3

    Pathology Unit, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woollongabba, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

  4. 4

    Plastic Surgery Unit, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woollongabba, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

  5. 5

    Head and Neck Unit, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woollongabba, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

  1. †

    Fax: +61-7-3845-3508

*Head and Neck Unit, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woollongabba, Brisbane, 4102, Queensland, Australia

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 8 DEC 2004
  2. Article first published online: 21 OCT 2004
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 21 JUL 2004
  4. Manuscript Received: 19 MAR 2004

Funded by

  • Garnett-Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation Project Grant
  • University of Queensland Graduate Medical School Scholarship
  • Queensland Cancer Fund Clinical Fellowship

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Keywords:

  • SPARC;
  • osteonectin;
  • uPA;
  • PAI-1;
  • HNSCC;
  • prognosis

Abstract

Head and neck cancer (HNSCC) is one of the most distressing human cancers, causing pain and affecting the basic survival functions of breathing and swallowing. Mortality rates have not changed despite recent advances in radiotherapy and surgical treatment. We have compared the expression of over 13,000 unique genes in 7 cases of matched HNSCC and normal oral mucosa. Of the 1,260 genes that showed statistically significant differences in expression between normal and tumor tissue at the mRNA level, the three top ranking of the top 5% were selected for further analysis by immunohistochemistry on paraffin sections, along with the tumor suppressor genes p16 and p53, in a total of 62 patients including 55 for whom >4-year clinical data was available. Using univariate and multivariate survival analysis, we identified SPARC/osteonectin as a powerful independent prognostic marker for short disease-free interval (DFI) (p < 0.002) and poor overall survival (OS) (p = 0.018) of HNSCC patients. In combination with other ECM proteins found in our analysis, PAI-1 and uPA, the association with DFI and OS became even more significant (p < 0.001). Our study represents the first instance of SPARC as an independent prognostic marker in HNSCC.

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