Clinical significance of osteopontin expression in T1 and T2 tongue cancers.

Abstract

Osteopontin (OPN) is considered to be a tumor-related protein associated with tumor aggressiveness and metastasis. Immunohistochemistry was used to study the clinical significance of OPN expression in T1 and T2 tongue cancers. Positive OPN expression significantly correlated with higher tumor classification (T) (p = .004), positive nodal classification (N) (p < .001), greater tumor thickness (p < .001), and presence of tumor necrosis (p = .016), respectively. The unfavorable cumulative 5-year disease-free survival rate significantly correlated with positive OPN expression (p < .001), T2 (p = .024), positive N (p < .001), greater tumor thickness (p = .023), and positive tumor necrosis (p = .003). However, taking CD105 into consideration, only CD105 expression was the independent prognostic factor for survival by Cox's regression analysis. Overexpression of OPN in the tumors implicated a more aggressive tumor behavior and was an important factor for survival. In addition, there might be relationship between OPN and CD105 expressions in angiogenesis.