Prognostic and clinicopathological significance of transcription factor c-Jun in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a 3-year follow-up retrospective study

PURPOSE: To investigate the expression and prognostic value of c-Jun in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC). METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on a cohort of 99 HPSCC patients. The expression of c-Jun and phosphorylated-c-Jun (p-c-Jun) was evaluated via immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were assessed using Kaplan–Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: The high expression of c-Jun and p-c-Jun in HPSCC accounted for 60.61% and 16.16%, respectively. High expression of c-Jun was closely associated with cT stage (p = 0.0401), tumor size (p = 0.0276), number of lymph node metastases (p = 0.0205) and pathological differentiation (p = 0.0108). The expression of c-Jun(high) (p = 0.0043), p-c-Jun(high) (p = 0.0376) and c-Jun(high)/p-c-Jun(high) were closely associated with poor OS. The Cox proportional multivariate hazard model revealed that lymphovascular invasion and c-Jun expression were independent influencing factors of OS in HPSCC patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that c-Jun is a reliable prognostic factors in HPSCC patients.