Parathyroid hormone-related peptide and parathyroid hormone-related peptide receptor type 1 in locally advanced laryngeal cancer as prognostic indicators of relapse and survival

BACKGROUND: Parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) overexpression and poor patient outcome have been reported for many human tumors, but no studies are available in laryngeal cancer. Therefore, we studied the expression of PTHrP and its receptor, parathyroid hormone-related peptide receptor type 1 (PTH1R), in primary locally advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (LALSCC) also in relation to the clinical outcome of patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective exploratory study, using immunohistochemistry, on PTHrP, PTH1R and HER1 expressions in LALSCC of 66 patients treated with bio-radiotherapy with cetuximab. RESULTS: The expressions of PTHrP and PTH1R in LALSCC were associated with the degree of tumor differentiation (p = 0.01 and 0.04, respectively). Poorly differentiated tumors, with worse prognosis, expressed PTHrP at nuclear level and were PTH1R negative. PTHrP and PTH1R were expressed at cytoplasmic level in normal larynx epithelium and more differentiated laryngeal cancer cells, suggesting an autocrine/paracrine role of PTHrP in squamous cell differentiation of well differentiated tumors with good prognosis. Eighty-one percent HER1 positive tumors expressed PTHrP (p < 0.0001), mainly at nuclear level, consistent with the known up-regulation of PTHrP gene by HER1 signaling. In multivariable analyses, patients with PTHrP positive tumors had a higher relative risk of relapse (HR = 5.49; CI 95% = 1.62–22.24; p = 0.006) and survival (HR = 8.21; CI 95% = 1.19–105.00; p = 0.031) while those with PTH1R positive tumors showed a lower relative risk of relapse (HR = 0.18; CI 95% = 0.04–0.62; p = 0.002) and survival (HR = 0.18; CI 95% = 0.04–0.91; p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS: In LALSCC nuclear PTHrP and absence of PTH1R expressions could be useful in predicting response and/or resistance to cetuximab in combined therapies, contributing to an aggressive behavior of tumor cells downstream to HER1. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09748-1.