Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Voice, Speech and Hearing Disorders, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Oral & Maxillofacial surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
J Oral Pathol Med. 2017 Nov;46(10):986-990. doi: 10.1111/jop.12607. Epub 2017 Jul 9.
βIII-tubulin (TUBB3) is an isotype of microtubules, which are involved in crucial cellular roles including maintenance of cell shape, intracellular transport, and mitosis. Overexpression of TUBB3 was found to be associated with poor prognosis and resistance to tubulin-binding drugs and in several solid tumors including head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Considering the potential high importance of a prognostic biomarker in these cancers, this study aimed to investigate the clinical relevance of immunohistochemical TUBB3 expression in HNSCC.
Tissue microarray (TMA) sections containing samples from 667 cancers of oral cavity, oro- and hypopharynx, and larynx for which follow-up data were available were analyzed for TUBB3 expression by immunohistochemistry.
Over 90% of our analyzed cancers showed unequivocal cytoplasmic TUBB3 expression. Staining was considered weak in 69 (15.5%), moderate in 149 (33.5%), and strong in 188 (42.2%) of cancers. The frequent TUBB3 overexpression showed no significant correlation with pathological grading, tumor stage, nodal status, or surgical margin and had no impact on patient outcomes.
Despite lacking prognostic utility in HNSCC, the remarkable high prevalence of TUBB3 expression in HNSCC emphasizes its putative relevance as a target for future drugs targeting TUBB3.
βIII-微管蛋白（TUBB3）是微管的一种同工型，参与维持细胞形态、细胞内运输和有丝分裂等关键细胞功能。TUBB3 的过表达与不良预后以及对微管结合药物的耐药性有关，在包括头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）在内的几种实体瘤中也发现了这种情况。考虑到在这些癌症中，预后生物标志物的潜在重要性很高，本研究旨在调查 HNSCC 中免疫组织化学 TUBB3 表达的临床相关性。
分析了 667 例口腔、口咽和下咽及喉癌组织的组织微阵列（TMA）切片，这些癌症均有随访数据，并通过免疫组织化学分析 TUBB3 表达。
我们分析的癌症中超过 90%表现出明确的细胞质 TUBB3 表达。染色被认为在 69 例（15.5%）癌症中为弱阳性，在 149 例（33.5%）癌症中为中度阳性，在 188 例（42.2%）癌症中为强阳性。频繁的 TUBB3 过表达与病理分级、肿瘤分期、淋巴结状态或手术切缘无显著相关性，也对患者结局无影响。
尽管在 HNSCC 中缺乏预后效用，但 TUBB3 在 HNSCC 中的高表达率强调了它作为未来靶向 TUBB3 的药物的潜在相关性。
