在台灣口腔鱗狀細胞癌中細胞角蛋白18的表現與臨床病理特徵和預後的關係

Abstract

目的 細胞角蛋白18 (K18)是上皮組織中常見的細胞骨架蛋白。K18的異常表現與多種癌症的進展有關，不過K18在口腔鱗狀細胞癌(OSCC)中的功能尚未被完全釐清。本研究將會探討K18的表現在OSCC組織中對病患臨床病理特徵和預後的影響。 方法 透過免疫組織化學染色(IHC)分析88位OSCC病患手術後切除的腫瘤中K18表現情形，並進一步分析K18表現與多種臨床病理特徵、預後的相關性。 結果 K18的表現與多顆淋巴結轉移有關，與腫瘤大小無關，K18高度表現與淋巴血管侵犯(LVI)有關。在存活分析中顯示K18陽性病患相較於K18陰性病患會有較短的整體存活期，而且K18強陽性病患還會有更短的無病存活期。 結論 在台灣OSCC病患中K18表現與較差的預後有關。K18高度表現與淋巴血管侵犯(LVI)有關。K18對於OSCC侵襲力增加有重要的作用，有可能是OSCC潛在的治療標靶。

Purpose Cytokeratin 18 (K18) is a cytoskeleton protein that is normally expressed in epithelium. Aberrant K18 expression is associated with cancer progression. However, the functions of K18 in oral cancer have not been fully elucidated. The present study aims to further investigate the association of K18 expression in clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. Methods This study evaluated K18 expression by immunohistochemistry in 88 resected specimens from patients with OSCC. The relationship between K18 expression levels and various clinicopathological parameters and prognosis were further analyzed. Results K18 expression was significantly correlated to the number of pathologically positive lymph nodes but not to tumor size. Strongly positive of K18 was significantly correlated to lymphovascular invasion(LVI). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that OSCC patients with positive K18 had a significantly poorer overall survival than negative K18 group. Furthermore, patients with high intensity of K18 had a significantly poorer disease-free survival than negative K18 group. Conclusions The expression of K18 was significantly associated with the poor prognosis of OSCC in Taiwan. Strongly positive of K18 expression was significantly correlated to lymphovascular invasion. K18 plays an invasion‐promoting role in OSCC and might be a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of OSCC.