Division of Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, Graz A-8036, Austria.
Br J Cancer. 2011 May 10;104(10):1641-8. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2011.131. Epub 2011 Apr 19.
The influence of human prolactin (hPRL) on the development of breast and other types of cancer is well established. Little information, however, exists on the effects of hPRL on squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHNs).
In this study, we evaluated prolactin receptor (PRLR) expression in SCCHN cell lines and assessed by immunohistochemistry the expression in 89 patients with SCCHNs. The PRLR expression was correlated with clinicopathological characteristics as well as clinical outcome. The effect of hPRL treatment on tumour cell growth was evaluated in vitro.
Immunoreactivity for PRLR was observed in 85 out of 89 (95%) tumours. Multivariate COX regression analysis confirmed high levels of PRLR expression (>25% of tumour cells) to be an independent prognostic factor with respect to overall survival (HR=3.70, 95% CI: 1.14-12.01; P=0.029) and disease-free survival (P=0.017). Growth of PRLR-positive cancer cells increased in response to hPRL treatment.
Our data indicate that hPRL is an important growth factor for SCCHN. Because of PRLR expression in a vast majority of tumour specimens and its negative impact on overall survival, the receptor represents a novel prognosticator and a promising drug target for patients with SCCHNs.
人类催乳素（hPRL）对乳腺癌和其他类型癌症的发展影响已得到充分证实。然而，关于 hPRL 对头颈鳞状细胞癌（SCCHN）的影响的信息却很少。
在这项研究中，我们评估了 SCCHN 细胞系中的催乳素受体（PRLR）表达，并通过免疫组织化学方法评估了 89 例 SCCHN 患者中的表达。PRLR 表达与临床病理特征以及临床结局相关。在体外评估了 hPRL 治疗对肿瘤细胞生长的影响。
在 89 例肿瘤中有 85 例（95%）观察到 PRLR 免疫反应性。多变量 COX 回归分析证实，高水平的 PRLR 表达（>25%的肿瘤细胞）是总生存（HR=3.70，95%CI：1.14-12.01；P=0.029）和无病生存（P=0.017）的独立预后因素。PRLR 阳性癌细胞的生长在 hPRL 治疗下增加。
我们的数据表明，hPRL 是 SCCHN 的重要生长因子。由于大多数肿瘤标本中都表达 PRLR，并且其对总生存有负面影响，因此该受体代表了 SCCHN 患者的一种新的预后标志物和有前途的药物靶标。
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