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The Prognostic Role of Claudins in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas

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Pathology & Oncology Research

Abstract

The expression of tight junction proteins is frequently altered in epithelial cancers. The loss of cell-cell adhesion associates with enhanced metastatic potential, which underlies the role of altered expression pattern of tight junction component claudins (CLDNs). Our study assessed the expression of CLDN 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 10 in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck region (HNSCC) including oropahrynx, larynx, and hypopharynx in comparison to normal epithelial tissue of the same patient. The surgical samples were examined by tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry, the expression was calculated by H-score, which took account of intensity and percentage of positivity as well. Both normal and cancerous tissue proved negative for CLDN 3, 8 and 10. Normal epithelia showed mild expression of CLDN 4, but the minimal positivity disappeared in squamous cancer. In case of CLDN 1 and CLDN 7 we demonstrated significantly increased intensity in cancer, while CLDN 2 showed decreased expression compared with normal epithelium. The normal polarity and distribution of claudins were lost in HNSCC. Moreover, preserved expression of CLDN 2 (but not that of 1 and 7) was associated with better survival, which suggested a potential prognostic role of CLDN 2.

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Acknowledgments

We kindly thank Violetta Piurkó, Mrs. Francis Azumah and Viktória Gregor for their excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by the following grant: National Science Foundation-OTKA K84173 (J.Tó.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Pharmacology, National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, Hungary

    Györgyi A. Nelhűbel & József Tóvári

  2. Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Györgyi A. Nelhűbel, Boróka Károly & Balázs Szabó

  3. 2nd Department of Pathology, Semmelweis University, Üllői út 93, Budapest, H-1091, Hungary

    Boróka Károly, Gábor Lotz, András Kiss & István Kenessey

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  1. Györgyi A. Nelhűbel
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  2. Boróka Károly
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  3. Balázs Szabó
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  4. Gábor Lotz
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Correspondence to István Kenessey.

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Györgyi A. Nelhübel and Boróka Károly are contributed equally to this work

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Nelhűbel, G.A., Károly, B., Szabó, B. et al. The Prognostic Role of Claudins in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas. Pathol. Oncol. Res. 20, 99–106 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-013-9665-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-013-9665-6

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