High NUSAP1 expression predicts poor survival in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Several studies have demonstrated that nucleolar spindle-associated protein 1( NUSAP1 ) can influence the biological behavior of malignant cells. However, the roles of NUSAP1 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remain unknown. The purpose of this study is to analyze the NUSAP1 expression and prognostic significance in LSCC patients.

NUSAP1 mRNA levels in laryngeal tissues were determined by qRT-PCR. Meanwhile, we examined the expression levels of NUSAP1 protein in 137 primary tumor tissues and 20 cases of normal tissues by immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis on tissue microarrays (TMA).

Our results revealed that the frequency of high NUSAP1 was significantly higher in cancer tissue compared to normal surgical margins; NUSAP1 expression correlated with clinical features and overall survival (OS). NUSAP1 overexpression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis ( P = 0.023) and TNM stage ( P = 0.008); Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that patients with high NUSAP1 expression had worse prognoses than patients with low NUSAP1 expression.

The data suggested that NUSAP1 may be identified as a novel prognostic biomarker and targeting NUSAP1 seems to be a novel strategy for LSCC treatment.