Relationship between expression of E1AF and histological malignancies of oral squamous cell carcinoma

E1AF是一种ets致癌基因家族转录因子。先前的报道指出，E1AF可以上调多种基质金属蛋白酶（MMP）基因的转录，这些基因赋予人类癌细胞侵袭性表型。我们通过体外研究报道了E1AF表达与肿瘤细胞恶性程度密切相关。提示E1AF的表达可能有助于预测口腔鳞状细胞癌患者的预后。在本研究中，我们研究了E1AF、MT1-MMP和血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）的表达水平，并评估其与口腔癌患者转移潜力的相关性。本文报告32例经病理诊断为鳞状细胞癌的病例。临床分期均为T1或T2。32例中有18例发现淋巴结转移。32例患者中11例E1AF阳性，其中7例（63.3%）有淋巴结转移。32例患者中5例MT1-MMP阳性，5例均为E1AF阳性。5例MT1-MMP阳性病例中有4例出现淋巴结转移。11例VEGF阳性，其中10例出现淋巴结转移（90.9%），差异有统计学意义。E1AF或VEGF阳性17例，其中12例（70.6%）有淋巴结转移。15例患者E1AF和VEGF均阴性，其中仅6例（40%）存在淋巴结转移。这些结果提示E1AF和VEGF的表达是预测口腔鳞状细胞癌侵袭转移潜能的重要因素。

E1AF is an ets-oncogene family transcription factor. Previous reports have noted that E1AF can up-regulate transcription from multiple matrix metalloprotease (MMP) genes that confers invasive phenotype on human cancer cells. We have reported that the close correlation of E1AF expression and cancer cell malignancy by in vitro studies. This Implies that E1AF expression may contribute to predict the prognosis of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. In the present study, we have investigated the expression level of E1AF, MT1-MMP as well as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and evaluated the correlation to the metastatic potential in oral cancer patients.Thirty-two cases of pathologically diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma were investigated. All cases were T1 or T2 in the clinical staging. Lymph node metastasis was identified in 18 of the 32 cases examined. E1AF was positive 11 of the 32 cases, and lymph node metastasis was identified in 7 of the 11 E1AF positive cases (63.3 %). Five of the 32 cases were MT1-MMP positive, and all 5 cases were among the E1AF positive case. Four of the 5 MT1-MMP positive cases showed lymph node metastasis. VEGF was positive in 11 cases and lymph node metastasis was observed in 10 of the 11 VEGF positive cases (90.9%) that was statistically significant. There were 17 cases of which E1AF or VEGF was positive, and lymph node metastasis was identified in 12 of the 17 cases (70.6%). There were 15 cases in which E1AF and VEGF both were negative, and lymph node metastasis was identified in only 6 of these 15 cases (40%). These results indicate that the expression of E1AF and VEGF are important factors to predict the invasive and metastatic potential of oral squamous cell carcinomas.