Background: Metastasis is the most important predictor of survival in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We tested the hypothesis that there is a genetic expression profile associated with OSCC metastasis.
Methods: We obtained samples from 6 OSCC node-positive primary tumors and their matched metastatic lymph nodes, and 5 OSCC node-negative primary tumors. Using laser capture microdissection, we isolated OSCC cells from metastatic lymph nodes and compared them with those from matched primary tumors and unmatched node-negative primary tumors using Affymetrix Human Genome Focus arrays.
Results: Comparison of tumor cells from the lymph nodes with those from the unmatched, node-negative primary tumors revealed differential expression of 160 genes. Hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis using this 160-gene set showed that the node-negative samples were distinguishable from both, node-positive primary tumors and tumors in the lymph nodes. Many of the expression changes found in the metastatic cells from the lymph nodes were also found in the node-positive primary tumors. Immunohistochemical analysis for transglutaminase-3 and keratin 16 confirmed the differential genetic expression for these genes.
Conclusion: These preliminary results suggest that there may be a metastatic gene expression profile present in node-positive primary OSCC.
(c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2007.