Molecular Profiling Using Tissue Microarrays as a Tool to Identify Predictive Biomarkers in Laryngeal Cancer Treated with Radiotherapy

Aim: To explore the usefulness of the expression of five potential cancer biomarkers in predicting outcome in patients with laryngeal cancer. Materials and Methods: In the present study, the Swedish National Cancer Registry databases were used to identify patients with laryngeal cancer diagnosed during the years 1978-2004 in the Uppsala-Orebro region and treated with radiotherapy. The expression of Ki-67, MutS homolog 2, (MSH2), p53, B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and cyclin D1 in the cancer cells was assessed immunohistochemically using tissue microarrays (TMAs) and its predicitve value on survival and relapse was analyzed using Cox regression models. Results: A total of 39 patients were included in the present study. Nuclear MSH2 staining was statistically significantly correlated to Ki-67 expression (p=0.022). However, univariate and multivariate Cox analyses showed no statistically significant association between the expression of the investigated biomarkers and overall survival or relapse. Conclusion: The present exploratory study does not show any significant predictive value of the biomarkers examined with