Decreased expression of nuclear factor 90 correlates with worse outcomes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Nuclear factor 90 (NF90), one of the double-stranded RNA binding proteins (DSRBP), is involved in many cellular biological processes, includes cell proliferation, differentiation, angiogenesis, cell cycle and immunity. However, its role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and the significance of expression in clinics, remains unknown. The aim of this study was to uncover the relationship between the NF90 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and clinical outcomes in NPC patients. METHODS: We retrospectively detected the NF90 expression in 216 NPC specimens by IHC. The cutoff value of NF90 was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the prognostic value of NF90 in NPC was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier and cox multifactor statistical model. RESULTS: Elevated expression of NF90 was found in 60.2% (130/216). Positive correlation was found between NF90 expression and clinical stage (P=0.018), T stage (P=0.004), and therapy (P=0.020). Over-expression of NF90 predicted favorable progression-free survival (PFS) (P=0.017) and overall survival (OS) (P<0.001) in NPC. Further analysis suggested that the level of NF90 expression was an independent risk factor in NPC prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate, for the first time, that decreased expression of NF90 is an independent biomarker of worse prognosis for NPC patients, and is a great potential tool for screening the high-risk population for advanced NPC patients.