HOXB9 Expression Correlates with Histological Grade and Prognosis in LSCC

The purpose of this study was to investigate the HOX gene expression profile in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and assesswhether some genes are associatedwith the clinicopathological features and prognosis in LSCCpatients. TheHOX gene levels were tested by microarray and validated by qRT-PCR in paired cancerous and adjacent noncancerous LSCC tissue samples. The microarray testing data of 39HOX genes revealed 15HOX genes thatwere at least 2-fold upregulated and 2 thatwere downregulated. After qRT-PCR evaluation, the three most upregulated genes (HOXB9, HOXB13, and HOXD13) were selected for tissue microarray (TMA) analysis. The correlations between the HOXB9, HOXB13, and HOXD13 expression levels and both clinicopathological features and prognosis were analyzed. Three HOX gene expression levels were markedly increased in LSCC tissues compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues (P < 0.001). HOXB9 was found to correlate with histological grade (P < 0.01) and prognosis (P < 0.01) in LSCC. In conclusion, this study revealed that HOXB9, HOXB13, and HOXD13 were upregulated and may play important roles in LSCC. Moreover, HOXB9 may serve as a novel marker of poor prognosis and a potential therapeutic target in LSCC patients.