New insights into erythropoietin and erythropoietin receptor in laryngeal cancer tissue

To investigate whether laryngeal cancer cells express erythropoietin (Epo) and erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) and what is their possible relationship with clinical and pathological features of the tumor. We performed immunohistochemical analysis of Epo and EpoR expression on 78 tissue samples of invasive and in situ squamous cell laryngeal carcinoma. The statistical analysis showed a weak positive and statistically significant correlation of EpoHS and EpoR HS expression levels. Epo HS and EpoR HS levels did not correlate with patient sex or age, type of diagnosis, cancer stage, histological tumor grade, presence or absence of disease recurrence, type of oncologic cancer therapy provided, or results of selected laboratory blood work. The results show a statistically significant difference in Epo expression with respect to survival. We confirmed the presence of Epo an EpoR in malignant laryngeal tumors and demonstrated the correlation between Epo expression and survival. Further studies are needed to more precisely define the role of Epo and EpoR in treatment of patients with laryngeal cancer.