Expression Of Zo-1 In Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Its Prognostic Value

Laryngeal cancer is one of the most common fatal cancers in head and neck carcinomas, but its mechanism is still unclear. The zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) is closely related to the genesis and development of a variety of respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tumors but the expression of ZO-1 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and its correlation with clinicopathologic features still remain undetermined. The aim to this study is to identify the clinical significance of ZO-1 in laryngeal cancer. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry with tissue microarrays were used to characterize the expression of the ZO-1 mRNA and protein in LSCC. The statistical analysis was carried out by combining the follow-up data and clinicopathologic features. Both the ZO-1 mRNA and protein expressions in LSCC are lower than their expressions in corresponding peritumoral tissue (P<0.05); the ZO-1 expression is related to tumor differentiation (P=0.009), clinicopathological stages (P=0.025) and lymphatic metastasis (P=0.013). As shown in the Cox regression analyses, the ZO-1 expression (P=0.035), tumor location (P=0.030), lymphatic metastasis (P=0.002) and tumor differentiation (P=0.004) are independent prognostic factors. The ZO-1 can serve as an independent prognostic factor of LSCC and the high expression of ZO-1 is associated with good prognosis.