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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Development of Compendium for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: April 12, 2024
Expression status of Zic family member 2 as a prognostic marker for oral squamous cell carcinoma
Kentaro Sakuma1, Atsushi Kasamatsu, Masanobu Yamatoji
1Department of Clinical Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.
Purpose:
To determine the involvement of ZIC2 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
Methods:
ZIC2 mRNA and protein expression in primary OSCCs (n = 74), oral premalignant lesions (OPLs, n = 20) and five OSCC-derived cell lines (HSC-2, HSC-3, OK-92, H1, and Sa3) were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC). In addition, we evaluated the correlation between ZIC2 IHC scores in OSCCs and the clinicopathologic status.
Results:
Significant up-regulation of ZIC2 was detected in OSCC-derived cell lines (P < 0.05), primary OSCCs (P < 0.05) and OPLs (P < 0.05) compared with normal counterparts. Among the clinical variables analyzed, ZIC2 expression was associated with the histopathologic types of OSCC. Furthermore, the survival rates differed significantly between ZIC2-positive cases and ZIC2-negative cases.
Conclusions:
These results suggested that ZIC2 expression is correlated with the differentiation type of OSCC and diagnosis and might be a potential prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for OSCCs.
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