The role of CSE1L expression in cervical lymph node metastasis of larynx tumors

According to international reports, 30-40% of all head and neck cancers are larynx cancers, comprising 1-2.5% of all cancer types. Cervical nodal involvement has been reported to be 40% and 65% in T3 and T4 cases, respectively. Five-year survival in patients with cervical lymph node metastasis has been demonstrated to be 50% lower compared to patients with no metastasis. Chromosome segregation like 1 protein; is a DNA fragment isolated by Brinkmann et al. in 1995 that corresponds to yeast chromosome segregation protein. Studies on the effect of chromosome segregation like 1 protein expression in head and neck tumors are rare and it has been shown that nuclear chromosome segregation like 1 protein is over-expressed in these studies where gastrointestinal and breast tumors over-expressed cytoplasmic chromosome segregation like 1 protein.

Chromosome segregation like 1 protein may regulate the proliferation and metastasis of T3-T4 glottic larynx cancer. The aim of this study is to show the relationship between chromosome segregation like 1 protein expression and cervical lymph node metastasis of T3-T4 glottic larynx cancer.

A total of 57 male patients who were operated for T3-T4 glottic cancer in a tertiary referral hospital was included in this study. There were 28 patients with cervical lymph node metastasis and 29 patients without lymph node metastasis. Immunohistochemistry was carried out on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival glottic larynx tumour tissue. According to the percentage of immunoreactive cells, chromosome segregation like 1 protein status was analyzed.

Among the patients, who had no cervical lymph node metastasis, 15 patients showed weak nuclear staining, 12 patients showed moderate nuclear staining and only 2 patients showed high nuclear staining for chromosome segregation like 1 protein. Among the patients who had cervical lymph node metastasis, 18 patients showed high nuclear staining, 9 patients showed moderate staining and only one patient showed weak staining for chromosome segregation like 1 protein. None of the metastatic patients showed cytoplasmic staining and only one patient in the non-metastatic group showed cytoplasmic staining for chromosome segregation like 1 protein. There was a positive correlation between nuclear chromosome segregation like 1 protein expression and cervical lymph node metastasis (r = 0,668) and it was statistically significant (p < 0,001).

Chromosome segregation like 1 protein expression is correlated with lymph node metastasis in T3-T4 glottic cancers. This may change the approach to cervical node treatment in patients with glottic cancers in future.