Elevated RUNX1 is a prognostic biomarker for human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Runt-related transcription factors regulate many developmental processes such as proliferation and differentiation. In this study, the function of the runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) was investigated in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Our results show that RUNX1 expression was elevated in HNSCC patients, which was greatly correlated with the N stage, tumor size, and American Joint Committee on Cancer stage. Cox proportional hazard models showed that RUNX1 could be used as a prognostic indicator for the overall survival of HNSCC patients (hazard ratio, 5.572; 95% confidence interval, 1.860-9.963; <0.001). Moreover, suppression of RUNX1 inhibited HNSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Using the HNSCC xenograft nude mouse model, we found that the shRUNX1-transfected tumor (sh-RUNX1) was significantly smaller both in size and weight than the control vector-transfected tumor (sh-Control). In conclusion, our results show that the elevated RUNX1 expression was correlated with tumor growth and metastasis in HNSCC, indicating that RUNX1 could be used as a biomarker for tumor recurrence and prognosis.