The prognostic role of Eg5 expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Eg5 is identified as a microtubule-dependent motor protein and has been suggested to play important role in cancer development. The aim of this study was to detect the expression of Eg5 and its clinicopathological characteristics in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. One-step quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) test with 20 fresh-frozen LSCC samples and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis in 137 LSCC cases were performed to investigate the relationship between Eg5 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of LSCC. The Eg5 mRNA and protein levels were significantly higher in LSCC tissues compared with corresponding non-cancerous tissues (p < 0.05). Eg5 protein expression was significantly correlated to lymph node metastasis (p = 0.021) and TNM stage (p = 0.030). Kaplan-Meier survival and multivariate analysis with Cox regression model indicated that high Eg5 expression (p = 0.031) and TNM stage (p = 0.011) were independent factors to predict unfavourable prognosis for patients with LSCC. The data suggested that Eg5 may be identified as a novel prognostic biomarker and targeting Eg5 seems to be a novel strategy for LSCC treatment.