KI67 IS AN INDEPENDENT PROGNOSTIC MARKER FOR RECURRENCE AND RELAPSE IN ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA PATIENTS

Objectives Ki67 expression was associated with the prognosis of several tumors and played a key role in the choice of medical treatments. However, the diagnostic value of Ki67 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not been fully-evaluated. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the prognosis value of Ki67 in large number of OSCC patients. Findings Ki67 expression was detected by immune-histochemical staining methods in 298 OSCC samples and 98 none-tumor oral mucosa samples (62 dysplasia mucosa and 26 normal mucosa), which were acquired from Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University. Expression of Ki67 was assessed independently by two professional pathologists. Expression of Ki67 in normal mucosa, mucosa with dysplasia and OSCC tissue was compared. Correlations between Ki67 expression and clinicopathological parameters were analyzed by Chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and cox progression analysis were used to assess the diagnostic value of Ki67 for OSCC. We found that Ki67 expression was higher in OSCC tissues than in non-tumor tissues, and it increases with the progression of dysplasia in oral mucosa tissues. In addition, high Ki67 expression in OSCC patients was associated with poorer tumor differentiation (P=0.001), more lymph node metastasis (P=0.006), and inferior worst pattern of invasion type (WPOI) (P Conclusions Ki67 overexpression is associated with the progression of OSCC and can serve as an independent prognostic factor for OSCC patients