Method: A total of 66 patients with TSCC and 15 normal oral tissues were selected for C4.4A detection, the expression levels of C4.4A were semiquantitatively evaluated and correlations with clinicopathologic variables were evaluated statistically.
Result: C4.4A expression particularly was elevated in TSCC tissues significant higher than those in normal tongue tissues (P<0.01). C4.4A immunoreactivity was located on the cell membranes, which observed at the invasive front of TSCC and at the frontier of metastatic lesions to lymph node, its expression was associated with TNM stage, cervical lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). In the Kaplan-Meier analysis patients with overexpression of C4.4A was correlated with 5-year overall survival (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed C4.4A had an independent prognostic effect on overall survival (P<0.05).
Conclusion: In conclusion, it was demonstrated that C4.4A was associated with carcinogenesis in TSCC, and C4.4A expression status predicted poor survival. C4.4A may be candidate of molecular predictive factor and treatment target of TSCC.