Co-expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 with mutant p53, and its association with worse outcome in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is expressed in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) including oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and is a potential therapeutic target. However, information on its correlation with other relevant cancer related proteins stratified by p16 status and its prognostic significance in OPSCC is limited. We examined FGFR3 expression and its correlation with clinical characteristics, p16 status, and mutant p53 (mp53) among 220 retrospectively collected OPSCC cases and 40 prospectively collected SCCHN cases, including a majority of OPSCC. Correlations of FGFR3 Weighted Index (WI) with p16 status and mp53 WI as well as its association with disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. FGFR3 expression was detected in 61% and 70% of cases in cohorts 1 and 2, respectively. FGFR3 level was significantly higher in p16-negative tumors in both cohorts (p<0.001 and 0.006). FGFR3 expression was highly correlated with mp53 expression in both p16 + and p16– OPSCC (p<0.0001 and p = 0.0006, respectively). In cohort 1, univariate analysis showed that FGFR3 was associated with DFS but not OS. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that higher FGFR3 and mp53 level correlated with worse DFS (p = 0.025) and OS (p = 0.009). As expected, p16 positive status was associated with improved OS and DFS (p<0.001 for both). Our results suggest that high FGFR3 expression is associated with p16 negative status and mp53 expression in OPSCC and correlates with a worse clinical outcome. The biological relationship between FGFR3 and mp53 in OPSCC deserves further investigation.