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Expression and Significance of Cytokeratin 7, a Squamocolumnar Junction Marker, in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

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Abstract

The favorable features of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) in the head and neck are limited to those harboring transcriptionally-active HPV, which occur predominantly in the oropharynx (OP). Factors rendering the OP susceptible to HPV oncogenesis are largely unexplored. The role of cytokeratin 7 (CK7) in predisposition to HPV and cancer in the cervix has been evaluated. However, its significance in the H&N is unknown. CK7 immunohistochemistry was performed on a tissue microarray cohort of OP and non-oropharyngeal (NOP) squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) with known clinical follow-up and HPV E6/7 mRNA status. Expression was graded based on the distribution (1 ≤ 33%, 2 = 33–66%, 3 ≥ 66%) and intensity (1 = weak, 2 = strong) with combined score of ≥ 2 considered positive. Survival analysis was performed. Seventy-four NOPSCCs and 204 OPSCCs were studied. HPV was positive in 2.7% of NOPSCCs and 70.9% of OPSCCs. CK7 was positive in 23.0% of OPSCCs and 14.8% of NOPSCCs (p = 0.2), and in 24.1% of HPV positive versus 17.2% of negative patients (p = 0.2). There was no correlation with age, race, gender, HPV status, histologic type, tumor subsite, treatment, stage, or co-morbidities, and CK7 expression was not significantly associated with overall or disease specific survival. In our series, CK7 is positive in ~ 25% of H&N SCCs, although usually only focally. While CK7 has been suspected to be overexpressed selectively in HPV-related OPSCCs due to their origination from tonsillar crypt epithelium, we did not find any significant difference by anatomic H&N subsite, nor by HPV status, for its expression and found no association with patient survival.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, C-3321A Medical Center North, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA

    Mitra Mehrad & James S. Lewis Jr

  2. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Biostatistics, Nashville, TN, USA

    William D. Dupont & W. Dale Plummer Jr

  3. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Otolaryngology, Nashville, TN, USA

    James S. Lewis Jr

Authors
  1. Mitra Mehrad
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  2. William D. Dupont
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  4. James S. Lewis Jr
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Correspondence to Mitra Mehrad.

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Mitra Mehrad, William D. Dupont, W Dale Plummer Jr, and James S. Lewis, Jr declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Mehrad, M., Dupont, W.D., Plummer, W.D. et al. Expression and Significance of Cytokeratin 7, a Squamocolumnar Junction Marker, in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Head and Neck Pathol 12, 448–454 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12105-017-0874-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12105-017-0874-2

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