Expression and significance of Ku80 and PDGFR-α in nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma

Background: To investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of Ku80 and PDGFR-alpha in nasal type NK/T cell lymphoma (NKTCL). Methods: Immunohistochemistry for Ku80 and PDGFR-alpha was performed on tissue sections from 35 patients diagnosed with NKTCL We analyzed the relationship between Ku80 and PDGFR-alpha expression and the clinicopathological features of NKTCL. We further performed multivariate analyses to identify prognostic factors for progression free survival (PFS) of patients. Results: Ku80 expression rate in NICTCL was 94.3% compared with that in reactive lymphoid hyperplasia of nasopharynx (P= 0.003). The positive expression rate of PDGFR-alpha in the group of NKTCL was 91.4% compared with that in control group (P= 0.004). The positive correlation between Ku80, and PDGFR-alpha was also found (r = 0.496, P= 0.002). Ku80 and PDGFR-alpha expressions were not correlated with patient's gender, age, B symptoms, LDH, Ann Arbor stage, IPI score and treatment (P> 0.05). High expression of Ku80 and PDGFR-alpha was shown to be correlated with worse PFS (P= 0.003 and 0.034, respectively). Multivariate analysis with a Cox proportional hazards model further suggested that Ku80 high expression rate (HR, 11.495; P= 0.009), PDGFR-alpha high expression rate (HR, 4.836; P= 0.031) and International Prognostic Index (IPI) score of 3-4 (HR, 7.308; P= 0.001) were statistically independent prognostic factors for patients' PFS. Our results suggest that Ku80 and PDGFR-alpha may be valuable indicators for predicting the survival of NKTCL patients. Conclusion: Ku80 and PDGFR-alpha might be effective predictive indicators for the prognosis of NKTCL A large prospective study is required to confirm the prognostic significance of Ku80 and PDGFR-alpha in NKTCL. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.