Suzuki M
Department of Otolaryngology, Tohoku University, School of Medicine, Sendai.
Nihon Jibiinkoka Gakkai Kaiho. 1995 Feb;98(2):216-25. doi: 10.3950/jibiinkoka.98.216.
The distribution of the basement membrane glycoprotein laminin was investigated immunohistochemically in 66 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck region. There were 18 patients with laryngeal cancer, 23 with pharyngeal cancer, 11 with maxillary cancer, and 14 with oral cancer. The specimens were taken from untreated primary lesions, and laminin was detected using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method. In carcinoma tissue, staining was seen in border zone between the cancer cells and surrounding connective tissue, but discontinuity or disappearance of the staining was commonly observed. The patients were classified on the basis of laminin distribution into the following three groups: a normal group, in which staining was almost continuous around the cancer cells, a discontinuous group, in which staining was discontinuous but present in up to 50% of the cancer cells, and an absent group, in which staining was seen in 49% or less of cancer cells. These groups were matched against clinical and histological features. Laminin distribution was significantly correlated with metastasis, survival rate and keratinization. In the absent group, 12 (92%) of the 13 patients had lymph node metastasis, and 6 (46%) had distant metastasis. In the discontinuous group, 17 (94%) of the 18 patients had lymph node metastasis and 3 (17%) had distant metastasis. In contrast, in the normal group, 13 (37%) of the 25 patients had lymph node metastasis and 2 (6%) had distant metastasis. The 5 year survival rate was 31%, 52%, and 67% in the absent, discontinuous and normal group, respectively. Histologically, the ratios of poorly keratinized to highly keratinized carcinomas were 62%, 67%, and 34% in the absent, discontinuous, and normal group, respectively. These findings suggested that the absent and the discontinuous, group required intensive neck dissection and systemic anticancer therapy.
