Expression of YT Domain Family Protein in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Its Correlation with the Prognosis

BACKGROUND: Proteins contained in the conserved YTH521-b homologous (YTH) domain, have m6A-dependent RNA binding activity. As an important part of YTH domain family proteins, YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 were shown to be associated with many cancers. This paper aimed to reveal the relationship between the expression of these two proteins and the clinical prognosis of OSCC, providing certain guidance for clinical treatment of OSCC. METHODS: We detected the expression of YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 in 120 OSCC patients by immunohistochemical analysis. Statistical analysis was used to determine whether the high or low expression of these two genes was significantly associated with age, gender, histological type, clinical stage, or lymph node metastasis. The correlation curve and survival curve of the two genes were produced to evaluate the potential clinical significance. RESULTS: We find the expression of YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 was increased in OSCC tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. The statistical analysis showed that the expression of YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 was significantly associated with the clinical stage and histological type in OSCC patients. There was also a significant correlation between the expression of YTHDF1 and YTHDF3. A high expression of YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 was related to poor patient prognosis. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that a high expression of YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 may be related to poor patient prognosis.