Hu Zhangwei, Wang Lei, Han Yong, Li Fen, Zheng Anyuan, Xu Yong, Wang Fei, Xiao Bokui, Chen Chen, Tao Zezhang
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
Clinical Research Institute, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, P.R. China.
Oncol Lett. 2019 Jan;17(1):314-322. doi: 10.3892/ol.2018.9642. Epub 2018 Oct 30.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world, yet current treatment options are associated with limited success. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of ferritin in HNSCC and clarify whether it may serve as a biomarker for predicting HNSCC metastasis. The chemiluminescent immunoassay method was used to investigate the differences in the serum ferritin (SF) levels between patients with and without tumors, and between HNSCC with and without lymph node metastasis. The iron content and expression levels of ferritin were detected to verify the differences between tumor and normal tissues, and between HNSCC without and with lymph node metastasis. Data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset was used to support the aforementioned results. No statistically significant difference in the SF level was observed between patients with and without tumors. Iron content and expression levels of ferritin heavy chain (FTH) and ferritin light chain (FTL) were higher in tumor tissues compared with normal tissues. The iron content and expression levels of SF, FTH and FTL were increased in HNSCC with metastasis compared with HNSCC without metastasis. The GEO dataset further verified the results and reported that the expression level of FTH was correlated with the prognosis of patients with HNSCC. Ferritin may not be a biomarker for the early diagnosis of HNSCC. However, an association exists between the expression level of ferritin and HNSCC cervical metastasis. SF may be a potential biomarker for predicting cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with HNSCC.
头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）是全球第六大常见癌症，但目前的治疗方案成效有限。本研究旨在调查铁蛋白在HNSCC中的表达，并阐明其是否可作为预测HNSCC转移的生物标志物。采用化学发光免疫分析法研究肿瘤患者与非肿瘤患者之间以及有或无淋巴结转移的HNSCC患者之间血清铁蛋白（SF）水平的差异。检测铁蛋白的铁含量和表达水平，以验证肿瘤组织与正常组织之间以及无淋巴结转移和有淋巴结转移的HNSCC之间的差异。来自基因表达综合数据库（GEO）的数据用于支持上述结果。肿瘤患者与非肿瘤患者之间未观察到SF水平有统计学显著差异。与正常组织相比，肿瘤组织中铁蛋白重链（FTH）和铁蛋白轻链（FTL）的铁含量和表达水平更高。与无转移的HNSCC相比，有转移的HNSCC中SF、FTH和FTL的铁含量和表达水平升高。GEO数据集进一步验证了结果，并报告FTH的表达水平与HNSCC患者的预后相关。铁蛋白可能不是HNSCC早期诊断的生物标志物。然而，铁蛋白的表达水平与HNSCC颈部转移之间存在关联。SF可能是预测HNSCC患者颈部淋巴结转移的潜在生物标志物。
