High expression level of geminin predicts a poor clinical outcome in salivary gland carcinomas

To examine the prognostic impact of geminin expression, a negative regulator of DNA replication, in salivary gland carcinomas.

Tissues from 170 patients with salivary gland carcinoma were assembled in a tissue microarray format, and immunohistochemistry staining for geminin and Ki67 was performed. Patients were categorized into three groups using the tertile values of the labelling index (LI) for each marker as the cut-off points for constructing Kaplan-Meier survival curves. The LI for geminin was relatively low in acinic cell carcinoma (mean 1.55%) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (mean 2.43%), intermediate in adenoid cystic carcinoma (mean 4.09%), and relatively high in salivary duct carcinoma (mean 15.22%). The geminin LI was significantly correlated with the Ki67 LI and histopathological factors, including pathological T factor, lymphatic and blood vessel infiltration, and lymph node metastasis. The increased expression of geminin was more strongly associated with reduced overall and relapse-free survival rates than with Ki67 expression and was a significant and independent prognostic factor in patient survival and tumour relapse.

Geminin expression is potentially a useful marker for predicting tumour aggressiveness and clinical outcome in salivary gland carcinomas.