Prognostic significance of fascin-1 and E-cadherin expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Fascin-1 and E-cadherin, both of which are related to cell motility and cell adhesiveness, are important factors in the progression and metastasis of cancers. The objective of this study was to explore the association between fascin-1 and E-cadherin expression levels with both the clinical characteristics and prognoses of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma; we did so through statistical analyses. In our study, tumor tissue samples from 150 patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were examined for fascin-1 and E-cadherin expression by immunohistochemistry. Fascin-1 expression was found to be an independent predictive factor for recurrence in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (P=0.021) and independently related to disease-free survival (P=0.010). Although E-cadherin expression status was not an independent predictive factor for recurrence (P=0.055) or disease-free survival (P=0.063), when using subgroup analysis, the subgroup with high fascin-1 expression/low E-cadherin expression had the poorest prognosis (P=0.000). Fascin-1 expression could be a potential prognostic predictor for patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Simultaneous analyses of fascin-1 and E-cadherin expression could be more effective in evaluating the prognoses of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 19:11-17 (C) 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.