ABSTRACT
Survival from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has remained static for the last 20 years. The development of lymph node metastasis (LNM) significantly reduces the 5-year survival rate, thus the ability to identify tumours with the potential to metastasise would allow more aggressive treatment regimes to be directed at these patients regardless of negative clinical and radiological findings at the time of presentation. Comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) can identify chromosomal aberrations that may lead to metastasis. DNA from 23-paired specimens of primary tumour (PT) and LNM were analysed. Nonrandom copy number changes were identified in all paired samples. Similar numbers of aberrations were identified on PT and LNM samples. The most common aberrations were 3q (90%), 8q (65%), 1q (50%), 5p (43%), 2q (41%) and 11q (41%) and deletions 3p (57%), 1p (54%), 4p (48%), 13q (48%), 11q (41%) and 10q (37%). A number of differences were also detected. No aberration was found to be preferentially associated with the LNM, although gains on 6q (48 vs 22%) and 22q (26 vs 9%) were found at higher frequencies. Clonality studies demonstrated that LNM develop from the dominant population of cells in the PT. These results were compared with two similar publications. No combination of chromosomal aberrations, as detected by CGH, was associated with metastatic progression in HNSCC.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/genetics , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Chromosome Aberrations , DNA, Neoplasm/genetics , Head and Neck Neoplasms/genetics , Head and Neck Neoplasms/pathology , Lymphatic Metastasis , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Nucleic Acid Hybridization , Prognosis , Survival AnalysisABSTRACT
A total of 45 primary head and neck squamous cell carcinomas were analysed by comparative genomic hybridisation to identify regions of chromosomal deletion and gain. Multiple regions of copy number aberration were identified including gains affecting chromosomes 3q, 8q, 5p, 7q, 12p and 11q and deletion of material from chromosomes 3p, 11q, 4p, 5q, 8p, 10q, 13q and 21. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed significant correlations between gain of 3q25-27 and deletion of 22q with reduced disease-specific survival. In addition, gain of 17q and 20q, deletion of 19p and 22q and amplification of 11q13 were significantly associated with reduced disease-free survival. A Cox proportional hazards regression model identified deletion of 22q as an independent prognostic marker. The data presented here provide further evidence that the creation of a genetically based tumour classification system will soon be possible, complementing current histopathological characterisation.