Association of the upregulated expression of focal adhesion kinase with poor prognosis and tumor dissemination in hypopharyngeal cancer

Go Omura; Mizuo Ando; Yuki Saito; Kenya Kobayashi; Masafumi Yoshida; Yasuhiro Ebihara; Kaori Kanaya; Chisato Fujimoto; Takashi Sakamoto; Kenji Kondo; Takahiro Asakage; Tatsuya Yamasoba

doi:10.1002/hed.24176

Association of the upregulated expression of focal adhesion kinase with poor prognosis and tumor dissemination in hypopharyngeal cancer

Head Neck. 2016 Aug;38(8):1164-9. doi: 10.1002/hed.24176. Epub 2016 Apr 9.

Authors

Go Omura¹, Mizuo Ando¹, Yuki Saito¹, Kenya Kobayashi^{1

2}, Masafumi Yoshida¹, Yasuhiro Ebihara^{1

3}, Kaori Kanaya¹, Chisato Fujimoto¹, Takashi Sakamoto¹, Kenji Kondo¹, Takahiro Asakage^{1

4}, Tatsuya Yamasoba¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of Head and Neck Surgery, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan.
⁴ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 27061113
DOI: 10.1002/hed.24176

Abstract

Background: Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) plays an important role in tumor metastasis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the significance of FAK expression in surgically treated patients with hypopharyngeal cancer.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical charts of patients treated at our institution between 2004 and 2012 and identified 87 patients with hypopharyngeal cancer. FAK expression status was retrospectively evaluated using immunohistochemistry.

Results: FAK-positive patients displayed significantly worse disease-specific survival than FAK-negative patients (p = .001). Multivariate analyses revealed that FAK positivity and extracapsular spread (ECS) were independent, significant adverse prognostic factors. Furthermore, FAK positivity significantly correlated with the number of metastatic lymph nodes (p = .048), and FAK-positive patients displayed a higher incidence of distant metastases (p = .009).

Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that upregulated FAK expression correlates with poor prognosis and tumor dissemination in surgically treated patients with hypopharyngeal cancer. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38:1164-1169, 2016.

Keywords: focal adhesion kinase; hypopharyngeal cancer; immunohistochemistry; pharyngectomy; prognostic factor.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
Blotting, Western
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / mortality*
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / pathology*
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / surgery
Cohort Studies
Female
Focal Adhesion Kinase 1 / metabolism*
Head and Neck Neoplasms / mortality*
Head and Neck Neoplasms / pathology*
Head and Neck Neoplasms / surgery
Hospitals, University
Humans
Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms / enzymology
Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms / mortality*
Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms / pathology*
Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms / surgery
Immunohistochemistry
Japan
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Neoplasm Invasiveness / pathology
Pharyngectomy / methods
Prognosis
Retrospective Studies
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
Survival Analysis
Treatment Outcome
Up-Regulation

Substances

Biomarkers, Tumor
Focal Adhesion Kinase 1