The Importance of Heat Shock-Related 70-kDa Protein 2 Expression in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Objective: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma has a high mortality rate, and approximately 60% of patients are in advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. Thus, determining the prognostic parameters of this cancer and markers related to these parameters are very important. There are studies showing that heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2, which is used as a biomarker, may be associated with prognostic parameter in some cancers. However, no study has investigated the prognostic role of heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in the literature. Thus, in our study, the aim was to examine the relationship between heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 expression and clinicopathological prognostic parameters in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Our study included 104 patients diagnosed with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma between January 2005 and January 2016. The correlation between heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 expression and prognostic parameters was investigated by using the immunohistochemical method with heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 antibody. Results: In all the cases, heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 positivity was determined in tumoral areas (100%). The overexpression rate of heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 in adjacent non-cancerous tissues with dysplasia was 48/104 (42%) (P < .0001). A significant relationship was found between heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 expression and important prognostic parameters such as macroscopic tumor size, lymphovascular invasion, primary tumor, lymph node metastasis, distant organ metastasis, tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) stage stage, recurrence, and survival rates (P < .05). Conclusion: Our study supports the presence of an association between high heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 expression levels and prognostic parameters in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. We consider that heat shock-related 70-kDa protein 2 can be used as a prognostic marker in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, it may be important in early diagnosis due to its increased expression even under laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma precursor conditions.