Periostin is frequently overexpressed and enhances invasion and angiogenesis in oral cancer

Oral squamous-cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common types of human cancer. Typically OSCC cells show persistent invasion that frequently leads to local recurrence and distant lymphatic metastasis. We previously identified Periostin as the gene demonstrating the highest fold change expression in the invasive clone by comparing the transcriptional profile of parent OSCC cell line and a highly invasive clone. Here, we demonstrated that Periostin overexpression enhanced invasiveness in oral cancer cell lines. To know the role of Periostin in invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis in OSCC cases, we first examined the expression of Periostin mRNA in 31 OSCC cases by RT–PCR and Periostin protein in 74 OSCC cases by immunohistochemistry. Then, we compared the Periostin expression with invasion pattern, metastasis and blood vessel density. Periostin mRNA and protein overexpression were frequently found in OSCC cases and Periostin expression was well correlated with the invasion pattern and metastasis. Moreover, blood vessel density of Periostin-positive cases was higher than those of Periostin-negative cases. Interestingly, recombinant Periostin enhanced capillary formation in vitro in a concentration-dependant manner. In summary, these findings suggest that Periostin may promote invasion and angiogenesis in OSCC, and that Periostin can be a strong marker for prediction of metastasis in oral cancer patients.