Abstract
MASPIN, a member of serpin superfamily, has multifaceted biological functions and an unique tumour suppressing activity. Experimental evidences showed that MASPIN suppresses tumour growth, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. Only a very limited number of studies considered MASPIN expression in the upper aero-digestive tract carcinomas. It was recently found that nuclear localization of MASPIN was significantly associated with lower recurrence rate and longer disease-free interval in laryngeal carcinoma. The present study investigated the biological and prognostic role of MASPIN in relation to its subcellular localization in oral carcinoma. Sub-cellular pattern of distribution of MASPIN, nuclear and cytoplasmic MASPIN expressions were immunohistochemically determined in 56 consecutive cases of oral carcinoma. Statistical analysis found a significant association between pN-stage and recurrence of disease (P = 0.032) and a significantly longer disease-free interval in pN0 patients than in pN+ ones (P = 0.038). None of the subcellular expressions of MASPIN was significantly correlated with recurrence of disease and disease-free interval in our series of oral carcinomas. Sixty-one percent of pN0 cases was strongly MASPIN-positive in the cytoplasm of primary carcinoma cells, 33% of the pN+ cases was MASPIN-positive in the cytoplasm. Statistical analysis found a significant association between MASPIN cytoplasmic expression and pN-stage (P = 0.032). Negative MASPIN immunoreactivity in carcinoma cells cytoplasm may be useful to identify patients at risk of disease disseminating to neck lymph nodes. Further investigations are necessary to understand the biological role of cytoplasmic MASPIN localization in oral carcinoma.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beltran A, Parikh S, Liu Y, Cuevas BD, Johnson GL, Futscher BW, Blancafort P (2007) Re-activation of a dormant tumor suppressor gene maspin by designed transcription factors. Oncogene 26:2791–2798
Khalkhali-Ellis Z (2006) Maspin: the new frontier. Clin Cancer Res 12:7279–7283
Bailey CM, Khalkhali-Ellis Z, Seftor EA, Hendrix MJ (2006) Biological functions of maspin. J Cell Physiol 209:617–624
Blandamura S, Giacomelli L, Leo G, Segato P, Ninfo V (2006) Nuclear maspin detection in renal cell tumours: possible diagnostic role and correlation with p53 status. Histopathology 49:274–282
Marioni G, Giacomelli L, D’Alessandro E, Marchese-Ragona R, Staffieri C, Ferraro SM, Staffieri A, Blandamura S (2008) Nuclear localization of maspin: is its impact on the prognosis in laryngeal carcinoma due to a pro-apoptotic effect? Am J Otolaryngol (in press)
Lonardo F, Li X, Siddiq F, Singh R, Al-Abbadi M, Pass Hi, Sheng S (2006) Maspin nuclear localization is linked to favorable morphological features in pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Lung Cancer 51:31–39
Marioni G, Blandamura S, Giacomelli L, Calgaro N, Segato P, Leo G, Fischetto D, Staffieri A, De Filippis C (2005) Nuclear expression of maspin is associated with a lower recurrence rate and a longer disease free interval after surgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. Histopathology 46:576–582
International Union Against Cancer (1997) TNM classification of malignant tumours, 5th edn. Wiley-Liss, New York
Marioni G, D’Alessandro E, Giacomelli L, De Filippis C, Calgaro N, Sari M, Staffieri A, Blandamura S (2006) Maspin nuclear localization is related to reduced density of tumour-associated microvessels in laryngeal carcinoma. Anticancer Res 26:4927–4932
Xia W, Lau YK, Hu MC, Li L, Johnston DA, Sheng S, El-Naggar A, Hung MC (2000) High tumoral maspin expression is associated with improved survival of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Oncogene 19:2398–2403
Yasumatsu R, Nakashima T, Hirakawa N, Kumamoto Y, Kuratomi Y, Tomita K, Komiyama S (2001) Maspin expression in stage I and II oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Head Neck 23:962–966
Cho JH, Kim HS, Park CS, Kim JK, Jung KY, Shin BK, Kim HK (2007) Maspin expression in early oral tongue cancer and its relation to expression of mutant-type p53 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Oral Oncol 43:272–277
Iezzi G, Piattelli A, Rubini C, Poteri G, Artese L, Pernotti V, Carinci F (2007) Maspin expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma. J Craniofac Surg 18:1039–1043
Denk AE, Bettstetter M, Wild PJ, Hoek K, Bataille F, Dietmaier W, Bosserhoff AK (2007) Loss of maspin expression contributes to a more invasive potential in malignant melanoma. Pigment Cell Res 20:112–119
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr. Roberta Furlanetto, DDS, University of Padova, Italy for preliminary data collection.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marioni, G., Gaio, E., Giacomelli, L. et al. MASPIN subcellular localization and expression in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 265 (Suppl 1), 97–104 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-008-0583-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-008-0583-2