Circulating intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) in head and neck cancer.

The sera from patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (n = 30), oral carcinoma (n = 22) and laryngeal carcinoma (n = 22) was extracted before treatment. The concentration of circulating intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) was measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay and compared with those from normal subjects (n = 20). The concentration of circulating ICAM-1, E-selectin and VCAM-1 was significantly increased in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Correspondingly, VCAM-1 and E-selectin were significantly increased in laryngeal carcinoma, whereas only E-selectin was elevated in oral carcinoma. The concentrations of these adhesion molecules did not significantly differ with respect to the early and late stages of these carcinomas. Elevated levels of soluble adhesion molecules in the sera of cancer patients at three different head and neck regions, although appearing to be implicated in these tumour formations, may be unrelated to tumour progression.