The Investigation Of CD44v6 Expression And Its Clinical Implications In Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background:The occurrence, development and metastasis of a tumor is a multi-stage, complex process regulated by a variety of genes and factors, in which abnormal expression of any gene or factor may all lead to the occurrence or metastasis of a malignant tumor.CD44v6 is a variant CD44 molecule, a cell adhesion molecule encoded by the gene and located on the short arm of No. 11 human chromosome. As an integrated membrane protein, it primarily participates in the specific adhesion process of cell-to-cell and cells-to-matrix and also plays an important role in growth, infiltration, metastasis and prognosis of the tumor cell. It is proved that over-expression of CD44v6 is relevant to the infiltration and metastasis of a variety of tumors. Some scholars even propose that it can be used as an independent prognostic affection. However, CD44v6 in the study of tumors of head and neck is rarely reported. In this paper, the significance of such a protein in the production and development of laryngocarcinoma can be revealed by comparing the expression of CD44v6 protein in the laryngocarcinoma tissue with that of the corresponding adjacent normal tissues.Objective:The purpose of this article is to detect the overexpression of CD44v6 gene in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and investigate their clinical significance.Methods:CD44v6 mRNA in 46 cases carcinoma tissues and normal tissues were evaluated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR); CD44v6 protein expression was detected by immunohistochemistry; Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS13.0.Materials:There are 46 cases of patients with laryngocarcinoma in the department of Head and Neck Surgery of Shanxi Hospital of Tumors (all first-episode cases). Without preoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy, all patients were diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma. After operation, the specimen was immediately placed in the refrigerator at the degree of -70℃to preserve. The Frozen specimen of tumor was taken to make 4μm serial sections, get the immunohistochemical staining and select the cancer nest area with interstitial cells less than 10% through microscope for marking. After quick-froze in liquid nitrogen, the specimen was hammered to pieces and collected in a 2.0 ml Eppendorf tube for RNA extraction. Main observation indexes:CD44v6 mRNA and protein expression levels in 46 cases of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and adjacent normal tissues were tested by the use of RT-PCR and immunohistochemical SP method.Result:The overexpression of CD44v6 mRNA found 35(76.1%) in laryngeal carcinoma cases, while the result is negative in paired normal tissue.; The positive expression rates of CD44v6 protein was 71.8%(33/46) in laryngeal carcinoma cases, while the positive expression rates was 11.8%(2/46) in paired normal tissue. There was a statistically significant association between CD44v6 mRNA overexpression, CD44v6 protein overexpression and advanced clinical pathological stage. They were also correlated with the lymph node metastasis(P<0.05).Conclusion:This research results suggest that CD44v6 gene may play an important role in laryngeal carcinoma oncogenesis and malignant progression. Therefore, CD44v6 gene could be used as a reference marker of malignant degree and prognosis of laryngeal carcinoma.