Overexpression of KIAA1199 is an independent prognostic marker in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: KIAA1199 is a recently identified novel gene that is upregulated in various human cancers with poor survival, but its role and the underlying mechanisms in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remain unknown. Here, we collected tissues from 105 cases of LSCC to investigate the relationships between KIAA1199 protein expression and clinical factors. METHODS: Western blotting and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) were used for detect the protein and mRNA expression of KIAA1199 in LSCC tissue. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining was used to detect the expression of KIAA1199. Patient clinical information, for instance sex, age, pathological differentiation, clinical region, T stage, N stage, clinical stage, operation type, neck lymph dissection, smoking status, and drinking status were recorded. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and Cox analysis were applied to identify the relationship between KIAA1199 and LSCC. RESULTS: Western blotting results showed KIAA1199 protein was significantly higher in tumor tissues vs. adjacent non-cancerous tissues (0.9385 ± 0.1363 vs. 1.838 ± 0.3209, P = 0.04). The KIAA1199 mRNA expression was considerably higher in tumor tissues (P < 0.001) than in adjacent non-cancerous tissues by RT-PCR. IHC results showed up-regulated KIAA1199 expression was related with some severe clinicopathological parameters: pathologic differentiation (P = 0.002), T stage (P < 0.001), N stage (P < 0.001), clinical stage (P < 0.001), survival time (P = 0.008) and survival status (P < 0.001). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that patients with high KIAA1199 protein expression had poor overall survival (OS) (P < 0.05). Cox analysis suggested that the KIAA1199 protein expression constituted an independent prognostic marker for LSCC patients (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings revealed that KIAA1199 protein expression may be used to predict LSCC patient outcome.