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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

A Model for Perineural Invasion in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: January 5, 2017
Survivin expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas is frequent and correlates with clinical parameters and
Adrian Münscher1, Sebastian Prochnow2, Amit Gulati3
1Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany. a.muenscher@uke.de.
Objectives:
Strong expression of survivin is associated with worse survival in many different tumours, and in cell culture, a correlation between radiation resistance and survivin expression can be seen. The potential of survivin expression as a prognostic/predictive marker or therapeutic target has not been examined in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) yet.
Material And Methods:
Retrospective study of 452 tissue samples and clinical data from patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx/hypopharynx (LSCC), oral cavity (OSCC) and oropharynx (OPSCC) treated in the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf between 2002 and 2006. The expression patterns were detected by tissue microarray technique and correlated with clinical parameters (sex, age, tumour location, TNM 7th edition, grading, recurrence-free and overall survival).
Results:
222 OSCC, 126 OPSCC and 105 LSCC tumours of 118 females and 335 males with a mean follow-up of 41.3 months were examined. Survivin expression correlates with pN, cM, pT and overall survival.
Conclusion And Clinical Relevance:
The potential of survivin as a prognostic/predictive marker is very high. The findings have to be confirmed in a larger cohort of HNSCC esp. in those tumours treated primarily with radio/radiochemotherapy.
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