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Annals of Oncology Advance Access originally published online on May 25, 2009
Annals of Oncology 2009 20(8):1414-1419; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdp002
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

head and neck cancer

Class III β-tubulin, but not ERCC1, is a strong predictive and prognostic marker in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Y. Koh1, T. M. Kim1, Y. K. Jeon2,3, T.-K. Kwon4, J. H. Hah4, S.-H. Lee1,5,*, D.-W. Kim1,5, H.-G. Wu6, C.-S. Rhee4, M.-W. Sung3, C. W. Kim2,3, K. H. Kim3 and D. S. Heo1,5

1 Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital
2 Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Hospital
3 Tumor Immunity Medical Research Center, Cancer Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine
4 Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital
5 Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine
6 Department of Radiation Oncology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea

* Correspondence to: Dr S.-H. Lee, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, 28 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea. Tel: +82-2-2072-0832; Fax: +82-2-764-2199; E-mail: shlee119{at}snu.ac.kr

Background: Recent researches revealed that class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) is a prognostic marker in various tumors and role of TUBB3 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is not defined yet. We analyzed the significance of TUBB3 expression along with p53 and ERCC1 in locally advanced HNSCC patients receiving cisplatin-based induction chemotherapy.

Materials and methods: Retrospective review of medical records at Seoul National University Hospital between 1998 and 2007 was carried out. Immunohistochemical stain of TUBB3, p53, and ERCC1 was done in paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. We assessed response to treatment, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS).

Results: Eighty-five patients with oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and laryngeal cancers received induction chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin (n = 55), or 5-FU, cisplatin, and docetaxel (Taxotere) (n = 30). Eighty-three received definitive treatment after induction chemotherapy, where 62 received radiotherapy and 21 received surgery. TUBB3-positive patients showed lower response rate than TUBB3-negative patients (69% versus 88%, P = 0.039). Shorter median PFS was observed in TUBB3-positive group (12 versus 47 months, P = 0.001). Shorter median OS was observed in TUBB-positive group not reaching statistical significance (30 versus 59 months, P = 0.072). TUBB3 status significantly influenced CSS (35 months versus not reached, P = 0.017). Positive p53 status was related to poorer OS and CSS. ERCC1 showed no influence on chemotherapy response, PFS, OS, and CSS.

Conclusion: TUBB3 is a predictive and prognostic marker along with well-known p53 in HNSCC patients receiving cisplatin-based induction chemotherapy. Clinical impact of ERCC1 is not evident in this setting.

Key words: β-Tubulin, ERCC1, head and neck cancer, locally advanced, prognosis

Received for publication July 17, 2008. Accepted for publication December 19, 2008.


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