Objective: To investigate the expression of special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 (SATB1), and the relationship between SATB1 and clinicopathological factors of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).
Methods: Real-time PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze 80 samples of LSCC and 25 samples of control mucosa. The relationship between SATB1 expression and clinicopathological parameters was evaluated.
Results: The SATB1 mRNA expression levels in LSCC were 2.5- to 7.5-fold higher than those in control mucosa tissues (p < 0.001). SATB1 protein expression was detected in approximately 66% (53 out of 80) of the LSCC specimens, whereas it was below the detection limit in all the control mucosa specimens (p < 0.001). The SATB1 mRNA levels in positive cervical lymph nodes, in clinical stages III and IV with poor/moderate cell differentiation, were significantly higher than those in negative cervical lymph nodes in clinical stage II with high cell differentiation (p = 0.022, p = 0.005 and p = 0.006, respectively).
Conclusions: SATB1 mRNA and protein levels are elevated in LSCC tissues, and their levels are correlated with clinical stages and differentiation status. The current findings suggest that SATB1 may be a useful marker for the prognosis and assessment of therapeutic effects.