Quantification of p38αMAP kinase: a prognostic marker in HNSCC with respect to radiation therapy.

BACKGROUND

Translation of early findings from basic research is aimed to benefit cancer therapeutics. We report the p38α level in serum of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients indicating it as a prognostic marker and established its correlation with radiation therapy (RT).

METHODS

The case-controlled study was performed on 120 HNSCC patients from whom 81 patients and 45 controls were statistically analyzed. The p38α estimation was done at pre-RT, during-RT and post-RT using a real time Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technology, ELISA and western blot.

RESULTS

HNSCC patients showed threefold increase in p38α level when compared to control (p value<0.0001). The estimated concentration of p38α in a temporal manner, before-RT, during-RT and post-RT was 0.61 ng/μl (95%CI: 0.53-0.69), 0.35 ng/μl (95%CI: 0.31-0.38) and 0.30 ng/μl (95%CI: 0.26-0.33), respectively. Among the 81 cases, 70 patients (86.42%) showed a declined p38α in response to RT as evaluated by SPR and were responding clinically (clinical tumor regression).

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed elevated p38α level at cancer diagnosis and a statistically significant decline during-RT and post-RT periods. Hence, it can emerge as a prognostic marker supporting the candidature of p38α as a suitable serum marker in HNSCC.