Alpha B-crystallin - a validated prognostic factor for poor prognosis in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity

Alpha B-crystallin was found to be an independent prognostic marker for poor prognosis in oral cavity tumours. For oropharyngeal cancer, alpha B-crystallin had no prognostic value.

The aim of this study was to see if earlier findings of alpha B-crystallin as an independent prognostic marker, and SPARC/osteonectin, PAI-1 and uPA as a prognostic combination for poor outcome in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck could be confirmed in a new set of tumours.

In a consecutive series of patients, assessed and primarily treated at a tertiary referral centre, histological sections from 55 patients with oral and SCC (OOPHSSC) with complete clinical data and follow-up were obtained. Oral and oropharyngeal tumours were studied separately. Immunohistochemical detection of alpha B-crystallin, SPARC/osteonectin, PAI-1 and uPA expression was performed.

Thirty-five patients had an oral tumour and 20 patients an oropharyngeal tumour. Twenty-five oral tumours stained negatively and 10 positively for alpha B-crystallin. For oropharyngeal tumours the figures were 15 negatively and 5 positively. Median disease-specific survival (DSS) for both sites was 33.8 and 11.9 months, for negative and positive alpha B-crystallin staining, respectively (p = 0.046). For the oral cavity, median DSS was 27.3 months for negative tumours and 7.5 months for positive tumours (p = 0.012). Corresponding figures for oropharyngeal tumours were 33.8 and 34.1 months (p = 0.95). Thus, significance in survival was only found in oral cavity tumours. In multivariate analyses there were no significant differences in DSS in the oropharyngeal group when adjusted for tumour size (T status) and presence of neck node metastasis (N status). In the oral cavity group, the significantly better DSS for negative tumours became even stronger when adjusted for T and N status. No statistical difference was found in DSS between positive and negative staining for SPARC/osteonectin, PAI-1 or uPA.