Expresión de las proteínas de los proto-oncogenes ErbB-3 y ErbB-4 en el carcinoma oral de células escamosasestudio piloto
- Vicente, J de
- Esteban, I
- Germanà, A
- Germanà, P
- Vega, JA
ISSN: 1137-2834
Year of publication: 2003
Volume: 8
Issue: 5
Pages: 374-381
Type: Article
More publications in: Medicina oral
Abstract
Background: To examine the occurrence of ErbB-3 and ErbB4 in oral squamous cell carcinoma, as well as investigate statistical correlations between the expression of these protooncogen proteins and clinical and pathological tumor characteristics. Study design: Nineteen oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) were analyzed using immunohistochemistry. Results: Positive immunostaining for ErbB-3 was found in 13/ 19 (68%) cases and for ErbB-4 in 10/19 (52%). The intensity of immunostaining for ErbB-3 positive cases was low in 8 (42.1%) and high in 5 (26.3%) cases, and for ErbB-4 ones was low in 6 (31.6%) and high in 4 (21%) of the 19 cases. ErbB-4 overexpression and TNM stage showed a significant correlation (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = 0.467; P = 0.04). The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the overexpression of ErbB3 and ErbB-4 had no an influence on survival (P > 0.05), but TNM stage was inversely related to survival (P = 0.04). There was a significant association between the expression of ErbB-3 and ErbB-4 (χ2 = 6.193, P = 0.037). Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that c-erbB4 may contribute to tumor growth and progression