Abstract
Background
Eighty percent of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients have advanced stages (III and IV) of the disease, and biological markers are required to predict high-risk head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients in need of highly aggressive treatments after surgery to improve the survival rate. We analyzed the potential prognostic value of galectin 7 in a series of 81 stage IV hypopharyngeal SCCs because galectin 7 is an emerging marker involved in the epidermal development of pluristratified epithelia and in epidermal cell migration.
Methods
The immunohistochemical expression of galectin 7 was determined on a series of 81 stage IV hypopharyngeal SCCs and was compared with that of galectins 1 and 3.
Results
High levels of galectin 7 expression were associated with rapid recurrence rates and dismal prognoses in these 81 stage IV hypopharyngeal SCCs, a feature not observed with galectin 3 and one observed weakly, if at all, with galectin 1.
Conclusions
These data suggest that the immunohistochemical determination of galectin 7 expression in the case of high-risk hypopharyngeal cancers is a meaningful tool to identify patients who should benefit from aggressive postsurgical adjuvant therapy after surgery, including not only radiotherapy, but also chemotherapy.
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Acknowledgments
Supported by the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS; Belgium), the Fonds Yvonne Boël (Belgium), and the Mizukani Foundation for Glycoscience (Japan). C.D. and R.K. are Senior Research Associate and Director of Research, respectively, at the FNRS. D.-R.C. is a medical student from the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy (Craiova, Romania) and holds a grant from the Oficiul National al Burselor de Studii in Strainatate (Romania).
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Saussez, S., Cucu, DR., Decaestecker, C. et al. Galectin 7 (p53-Induced Gene 1): A New Prognostic Predictor of Recurrence and Survival in Stage IV Hypopharyngeal Cancer. Ann Surg Oncol 13, 999–1009 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1245/ASO.2006.08.033
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/ASO.2006.08.033