The etiology of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) has not yet been adequately examined. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the association between serum folate deficiency and abnormal expression of the cell adhesion molecule 1 (CADM1) protein in the progression of LSCC. Samples were collected from 60 patients with LSCC and 30 healthy people. Radioimmunoassays and immunohistochemical staining were performed to measure serum folate levels and CADM1 protein expression, respectively. The results demonstrated that CADM1 expression in LSCC specimens was significantly lower than in adjacent normal tissues (χ2=28.229, P<0.001), which was associated with histological differentiation and clinical stage (P=0.010 and 0.020, respectively). Levels of serum folate in patients with LSCC were significantly lower than those observed in healthy individuals (P=0.002). Furthermore, TSLCl expression and serum folate levels were positively correlated in LSCC (r=0.642, P=0.001). Thus, the present study determined that decreased CADM1 protein expression and low levels of serum folate were correlated with an increased severity of LSCC.
Keywords: cell adhesion molecule 1; folate; laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.