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Prognostic Value of Le y and H Antigens in Oral Tongue Carcinomas
Author(s) -
Xie Xin,
Boysen Morten,
Clausen Ole Petter F.,
Bryne Magne A.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1097/00005537-199909000-00022
Subject(s) - antigen , tongue , immunohistochemistry , apoptosis , epitope , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , tongue neoplasm , proliferating cell nuclear antigen , medicine , cancer research , biology , immunology , biochemistry
Objective: To investigate the prognostic significance of the carbohydrate epitopes H and Le y and their relationship with proliferation and apoptosis. Study Design: Eighty randomly selected patients with T1‐T4 oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were studied. Serial sections were cut from diagnostic, formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded specimens. Methods: Sections were stained immunohistochemically for H antigen and Le y . Results: Expression of H antigen was associated positively with Le y expression ( P = .0001). Expressions of H antigen or Le y correlated with the proliferative markers Ki67 ( P = .0442 and P = .0003, respectively) and pAgNOR >1 ( P = .0674 and P = .0047, respectively), but not with apoptotic markers such as Bax expression or the apoptotic index (AI). Tumors that expressed H antigen and high levels of Le y (>50%) had a poor prognosis ( P = .0006 and P = .0056, respectively). Combinations of expression of H antigen and Le y , and either proliferative or apoptotic markers revealed an enhanced prognostic potential ( P < .0001). The combination of pAgNOR score greater than 1 and H‐antigen expression appeared to be the best combination to predict good prognosis. Conclusion: The expression of H antigen and Le y , especially their combination with proliferative or apoptotic markers, has prognostic value in tongue SCC.