This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Erovic, B. M. Articles by Thurnher, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Erovic, B. M. Articles by Thurnher, D.

Mcl-1, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-R2, and 14-3-3 Expression Might Predict Primary Response against Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy in Patients with Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Head and Neck

Authors' Affiliations: Departments of ¹ Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, ² Radiation Therapy, ³ Clinical Pathology, and ⁴ Internal Medicine, Division of Oncology and ⁵ Medical Statistics, ⁶ Center of Excellence for Clinical and Experimental Oncology, University of Vienna Medical School, Vienna, Austria; and ⁷ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Requests for reprints: Dietmar Thurnher, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. Phone: 43-1-40400-3372; Fax: 43-1-40400-3332; E-mail: dietmar.thurnher{at}meduniwien.ac.at.

Purpose: This study was done to explore whether the expression of a selected set of proteins could predict primary response to radiotherapy or concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.

Experimental Design: Forty-three pretreatment tumor biopsies were taken during diagnostic panendoscopy and examined for Mcl-1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-R2, CD9, and 14-3-3 expression by immunohistochemistry. Forty-three patients underwent primary radiotherapy, of which, 29 patients received concomitant chemotherapy (low dose daily cisplatin, mitomycin C bolus). The primary end-point was locoregional tumor control 6 months after completion of radiotherapy. Mcl-1, VEGF-R2, CD9, and 14-3-3 expression were correlated with patients' primary response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy and with established clinicopathologic variables.

Results: Thirty complete and 13 partial responses were observed in our patient group. High expression levels of Mcl-1 (P = 0.021), VEGF-R2 (P = 0.032), and 14-3-3 (P = 0.013), but not of CD9, in tumor biopsies was correlated with complete response. Overexpression of at least two of the three aforementioned proteins in pretreatment biopsies predicted—with a likelihood of 80%—whether a patient would achieve complete response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, if only one of these proteins is overexpressed, there is a likelihood of 84.6% that this patient would not completely respond to therapy.

Conclusion: Determining the expression levels of Mcl-1, VEGF-R2, and 14-3-3 may be helpful in predicting the early clinical response in head and neck tumor patients receiving primary radiotherapy and chemotherapy and may further allow a pretherapeutic selection of patients.