Authors

Qiang Liu1, Yuye Shi2, Gang Ren3, Bin Li1, Bingliang Ma3, * 

Departments

1Department of Otolaryngology, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Medical College, No. 80, Jintan Road, Lanshan District, Linyi City, Shandong Province - 2Operating Room, Huzhou First People's Hospital, No.158, Square Back Road, Huzhou City - 3Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Huzhou First People's Hospital, No.158, Square Back Road, Huzhou City

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between the expression level of glycogen synthesis kinase-3 (GSK-3β) and clinicopathological features and prognosis in patients with laryngeal cancer.

Methods: Thirty-four cases of laryngeal cancer tissues archived in our hospital from February 2012 to November 2014 were collected, along with another 34 cases of normal laryngeal mucosal tissues from patients without malignant tumors. The expression of GSK-3β in laryngeal cancer tissues and normal laryngeal mucosal tissues was detected with immunohistochemistry, and the correlation of GSK-3β with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with laryngeal cancer was further explored.

Results: The positive expression rate of GSK-3β in laryngeal cancer tissues was 67.65% (23/34), while in normal laryngeal mucosal tissues the rate was 23.53% (8/34). The difference between the positive expression rates of the two groups was significant (P<0.05). GSK-3β expression levels were correlated with histological differentiation, TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis in patients with laryngeal cancer (P<0.05) and was independent of age, gender, and smoking history of the patient. The five-year survival rate of patients with GSK-3β - positive expression was 34.79% (8/23), which was 63.64% (7/11) in patients with GSK-3β - negative expression. The difference in the five-year survival rate between the two groups was significant (P<0.05). Histological differentiation, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and GSK-3β expression levels were all independent risk factors for the prognosis of patients with laryngeal cancer.

Conclusion: The increased expression of GSK-3β in laryngeal cancer can promote the development of this disease. GSK-3β expression level is related to histological differentiation, TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, the higher the expression level observed, the worse the prognosis of patients. These findings indicate that GSK-3β may be used as a potential histological biomarker for the evaluation of laryngeal cancer.

Keywords

Laryngeal cancer, glycogen synthesis kinase 3β, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage.

DOI:

10.19193/0393-6384_2021_4_334