c-Met expression as an indicator of survival outcome in patients with oral tongue carcinoma.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) can promote proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis in various tumor cells. However, the prognosis according to expression of HGF/c-Met has not been reported in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue (SCCOT). METHODS: Tumors from 61 patients with SCCOT were evaluated for the expression of HGF and c-Met by immunohistochemistry. For Western blot, we used fresh normal and cancer tissues from 3 patients with SCCOT. RESULTS: The positive rates of HGF and c-Met immunostaining in SCCOT were 57.3% and 54.1%, respectively. The c-Met staining was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (p = .005), tumor classification (p = .004), and recurrence (p = .018). Survival was significantly affected in patients with positive c-Met expression (p = .003). HGF and c-Met were strongly expressed in cancer tissues on Western blot. CONCLUSION: The c-Met expression may play an important role in the progression and the survival outcome of patients with SCCOT.