PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - KOJI HARADA
AU  - SUPRIATNO
AU  - SHIN-ICHI KAWAGUCHI
AU  - YUICHIRO KAWASHIMA
AU  - YASUTAKA ITASHIKI
AU  - HIDEO YOSHIDA
AU  - MITSUNOBU SATO
TI  - High Expression of S-phase Kinase-associated Protein 2 (Skp2) is a Strong Prognostic Marker in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated by UFT in Combination with Radiation
DP  - 2005 May 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 2471--2475
VI  - 25
IP  - 3C
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/25/3C/2471.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/25/3C/2471.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2005 May 01; 25
AB  - Low expression of p27Kip1 is associated with disease progression and an unfavorable outcome in several malignancies including oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In addition, p27Kip1 protein is thought to be degraded by Skp2 (S-phase kinase-associated protein 2). The purpose of this study was to examine whether Skp2 expression can be a useful prognostic factor in oral SCC patients treated by UFT in combination with radiation. The Skp2 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry in biopsy samples from 102 oral SCC patients, who were treated by UFT in combination with radiation. Associations of each expression with the clinicopathological characteristics and patient survival were also analyzed. A significant association was found between Skp2 expression and tumor size (p=0.0462), cervical lymph node metastasis (p=0.0209), therapeutic effect (p=0.0490) and patient outcome (p=0.0002). The 5-year survival rates of Skp2 high and low expression tumors were 40.5 % and 78.5 %, respectively, and this difference was significant (p=0.0001) by log-rank test. Multivariate analysis revealed that reduced term of survival was related to high levels of Skp2 expression (p=0.0001). These results suggest that Skp2 may be a useful prognostic factor in oral SCC patients treated by UFT in combination with radiation.