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Updated: Jun 8, 2026
A Model for Perineural Invasion in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: January 5, 2017
Angiogenin expression in head and neck basaloid and conventional squamous cell carcinoma: a site- and stage-matched
Gino Marioni1, Alberto Staffieri, Marina Savastano
1Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Section of Otolaryngology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. gino.marioni@unipd.it
Background:
Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma is an uncommon variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Angiogenin (ANG), a member of the ribonuclease super-family, is essential to tumor angiogenesis, but has also been implicated in tumor consolidation and proliferation.
Methods:
ANG expression was first investigated in 12 head and neck basaloid squamous cell carcinomas (HNBSCCs) and compared with a control group of 24 site- and stage-matched conventional SCCs to establish whether the supposedly more aggressive biological behavior of HNBSCCs might be ANG-related.
Results:
No significant differences were found between HNBSCCs, and SCCs in terms of recurrence, disease-free survival (DFS), or overall survival rates. In HNBSCC, we identified a trend toward a significant inverse correlation between endothelial ANG expression and DFS (statistical trend, P = 0.08). Endothelial ANG expression did not differ significantly in HNBSCCs and SCCs. A high ANG expression in carcinoma cells was directly associated with pT in both the HNBSCC (P = 0.04) and the SCC (statistical trend, P = 0.07) groups. ANG expression in carcinoma cells was significantly lower in HNBSCCs than in SCCs (P = 0.005).
Conclusions:
All the biological mechanisms investigated to date, including ANG-mediated angiogenesis or cell proliferation, have failed to confirm that HNBSCCs have a more aggressive behavior than matched SCC.
