[The study on clinical significance of the expression of EGFL7 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association and mechanism of EGFL7 expression level with the invasion and metastasis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

METHOD

RT-PCR and Western blotting were used respectively to detect the level of EGFL7 mRNA and protein form 33 fresh laryngeal carcinoma tissues and matched para-neoplastic non-tumor tissues. The immunohistochemistry technique was performed to determine microvessel density (MVD) in 33 tumor tissues. The association of EGFL7 expression and MVD with clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed.

RESULT

EGFL7 mRNA and protein expression were both significantly higher in the tumor tissues than in the paraneoplastic non-tumor tissues (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the expression of EGFL7 mRNA was highly correlated with the expression of EGFL7 protein (r = 0.786, P < 0.01). EGFL7 expression and MVD were highly correlated with clinical stage, tumor size and the presence of lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05), but was not correlated with the patients gender, age, tumor sit and tumor site differentiation (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

EGFL7 may have a close correlation with the development of laryngeal carcinoma via its impact on tubulogenesis and vessel shape. EGFL7 might serve as a tumor marker for assessing the progression of laryngeal carcinoma and a guide of clinical therapeutic decisions.