High PLAU Expression Associated With Poor Prognosis In Patients With Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objctive: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC)is the sixth most common cancer in the world,with more than 650,000 new cases each year.Although recent advances in molecular pathology and targeted therapy have significantly improved the prognosis of patients with HNSCC,no specific biomarker or similar effective targeted molecular therapy is available for screening and treating HNSCC.Recently,the clinical significance of mRNA expression in various cancers,including HNSCC,has been reported.PLAU(uPA)is a serine protease synthesized by fibroblasts,monocytes,neutrophils,epithelial cells and tumor cells.PLAU,as one of the main proteolytic enzymes involved in the degradation of extracellular matrix,has been shown to play a key role in tissue remodeling and migration during development and tumorigenesis.Based on current genomic approaches to HNSCC,there is an urgent need to study prognostic biomarkers and treatment options.We used the Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)database to analyze the differential expression of PLAU in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tissues,and thought that PLAU mRNA could be used as a biomarker for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:The cancer genomic map(TCGA)database was used to download the data set of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma,and the difference of PLAU expression between tumor tissue and normal tissue was analyzed.The online database UALCAN was used to analyze the relationship between PLAU mRNA expression level and prognosis of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.The histochemical database was used to observe the expression of PLAU protein in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.The gene set enrichment analysis method was used to predict the function of PLAU in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Based on the results of network pharmacological prediction,Western Blot method was used to determine the expression difference between PLAU cancer tissues and adjacent tissues.Results:Compared with adjacent tissues,the expression level of PLAU protein in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma was increased.Kaplan-Meier survival curve showedthat the expression level of PLAU was correlated with the survival time of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(P < 0.05);immune tissue Chemical results show that the protein expression of PLAU is increased;gene set enrichment analysis shows that PLAU is mainly enriched in tumor angiogenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition signaling pathway.Conclusion:The expression level of PLAU in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma can be used as a biomarker for the prognosis of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.