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ECE ‐1 overexpression in head and neck cancer is associated with poor tumor differentiation and patient outcome
Author(s) -
Xu EnnySonia,
Yang MuhHwa,
Huang ShihChe,
Liu ChihYi,
Yang TingTing,
Chou TehYing,
Hwang TzerZen,
Hsu ChaoTien
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/odi.12935
Subject(s) - hazard ratio , tissue microarray , medicine , head and neck cancer , immunohistochemistry , proportional hazards model , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , oncology , cancer , endothelins , endothelin 1 , carcinoma , pathology , confidence interval , receptor
Background Endothelin‐converting enzyme‐1 ( ECE ‐1) primarily converts big endothelins ( ET s) into active endothelin‐1 ( ET ‐1). However, the expression pattern and prognostication status of ECE ‐1 in head and neck cancer ( HNC ) are enigmatic. In this study, we investigated ECE ‐1 expression and assessed the roles of ECE ‐1 as a predictor for HNC differentiation and prognosis. Materials and Methods ECE ‐1 expressions were evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis using a tissue microarray ( TMA ) composed of 100 cases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The correlation of ECE ‐1 expression with clinicopathologic variables and patient outcomes was analyzed. Results ECE ‐1 may be overexpressed in HNC carcinoma cells. Higher ECE ‐1 level was detected more frequently in moderately to poorly differentiated tumors and showed a lower differentiation category compared to the G1 cases ( p = 0.015); this finding was further confirmed by an adjusted odds ratio ( OR ) of 4.071 ( p = 0.042). Moreover, Kaplan–Meier survival analyses showed that a higher ECE ‐1 expression was associated with a poorer survival in patients with HNC ( p < 0.0001). On multivariate Cox proportional hazards models analysis, ECE ‐1 of high expression proved to be an independent prognostic factor with a hazard ratio ( HR ) of 3.985 ( p < 0.001). Conclusion Our data provide the first evidence that overexpression of ECE ‐1 in HNC is a predictor of poor tumor differentiation and prognosis.