KDM5B overexpression predicts a poor prognosis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Lysine demethylase (KDM) 5B, as a member of the histone lysine demethylase family, is overexpressed and functions abnormally in various human cancers. However, its expression in the squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) remains unclear. KDM5B expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and correlated with clinicopathological parameters in 103 archival SCCHN tissue samples and 24 adjacent noncancerous epithelial tissues. We found that KDM5B expression was higher in SCCHN than that in adjacent noncancerous tissues. This was closely associated with lymph node metastasis and tumor recurrence. In addition, Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with high KDM5B expression had shorter disease-free and overall survival times than those with low KDM5B expression. Importantly, both univariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated that KDM5B level was an independent prognostic factor in SCCHN patients. These results indicate that KDM5B is a valuable biomarker that can be used to predict SCCHN patient outcome.