Podoplanin expression in lymphoid metastases of head and neck cancer

Introduction Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) have been associated with a poor prognosis for decades, with more than half of the patients already showing lymph node metastases at the time of diagnosis. The CUP syndrome (Cancer of unknown primary) of the head and neck area is special form and considered with a bad prognosis. An increased expression of the D2-40 gene (podoplanin) has already been described in some human malignancies and is associated with an increased metastatic tendency. However, only limited data are available on the role of podoplanin in HNSCCs.

Material und Methoden The expression of podoplanin was immunohistochemically assayed on FFPE tissue samples from 100 patients (70 HNSCC patients with known primary tumor, 30 CUP patients), assessed by the immunoreactive score (IRS) and correlated with the clinical data of the patients.

Results There was a higher podoplanin expression in CUP compared to HNSCC patients and a significant correlation of high podoplanin expression with an advanced N stage. Podoplanin expression had no significant effect on overall patient survival and did not correlate with the HPV status of the tumors.

Conclusion The results of our investigations show a higher podoplanin expression in lymph nodes at higher lymphogenous metastasis rates and CUP situations. Further functional studies on cell culture and animal models are needed to further elucidate the clinical and therapeutic relevance of this observation.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
24. Mai 2022