Moderate SCRIB Expression Levels Correlate with Worse Prognosis in OPSCC Patients Regardless of HPV Status

Lulić, Lucija; Šimić, Ivana; Božinović, Ksenija; Pešut, Ena; Manojlović, Luka; Grce, Magdalena; Dediol, Emil; Sabol, Ivan; Tomaić, Vjekoslav (2024) Moderate SCRIB Expression Levels Correlate with Worse Prognosis in OPSCC Patients Regardless of HPV Status. Cells, 13 (12). ISSN 2073-4409

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Abstract

Head and neck cancers rank as the sixth most prevalent cancers globally. In addition to traditional risk factors such as smoking and alcohol use, human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are becoming a significant causative agent of head and neck cancers, particularly among Western populations. Although HPV offers a significant survival benefit, the search for better biomarkers is still ongoing. In the current study, our objective was to investigate whether the expression levels of three PDZ-domain-containing proteins (SCRIB, NHERF2, and DLG1), known HPV E6 cellular substrates, influence the survival of HNSCC patients treated by primary surgery (n = 48). Samples were derived from oropharyngeal and oral cancers, and HPV presence was confirmed by PCR and p16 staining. Clinical and follow-up information was obtained from the hospital database and the Croatian Cancer registry up to November 2023. Survival was evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression. The results were corroborated through the reanalysis of a comparable subset of TCGA cancer patients (n = 391). In conclusion, of the three targets studied, only SCRIB levels were found to be an independent predictor of survival in the Cox regression analysis, along with tumor stage. Further studies in a more typical Western population setting are needed since smoking and alcohol consumption are still prominent in the Croatian population, while the strongest association between survival and SCRIB levels was seen in HPV-negative cases.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	HPV; survival; SCRIB; NHERF2; DLG1; HNSCC; E6
Subjects:	BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE > Clinical Medical Sciences > Oncology
Divisions:	Division of Molecular Medicine
Projects:	Project title Project leader Project code Project type Rasvjetljivanje onkogenih funkcija E6/E7 HPV-a na različitim anatomskim mjestima-HPVHNC Vjekoslav Tomaić IP-2016-06-2246 HRZZ Epigenetičke promjene karcinoma pločastih stanica glave i vrata-EpiC-HNSCC Magdalena Grce IP-2013-11-4758 HRZZ
Depositing User:	Ivan Sabol
Date Deposited:	19 Jun 2024 13:50
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/8905
DOI:	10.3390/cells13121002

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