Cd44 Expression Is Correlated With Mtor Expression And P16 Status In Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

To identify molecular pathways that mediate resistance to chemoradiation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) by examining the correlation of p16 status and CD44, c-MET, MTOR, EGFR, and GLUT1 expression. Protein expression in 109 tissue samples from HNSCC patient treated with chemoradiation was assessed through immunohistochemistry and quantified using Definiens Tissue Studio software. A histologic score corresponding to the percent positivity and intensity of expression was generated. Histologic scores were stratified by high and low expression using cut points determined with ROC analysis. Biomarker expression levels were correlated with one another using the Pearson rank correlation. Biomarker expression levels were correlated with p16 status using Spearman's rank correlation. Correlations are shown in Table 1. There was a significant negative correlation between CD44 expression and p16 and a significant positive correlation between CD44 and both MTOR and GLUT1, c-MET and MTOR, and MTOR and GLUT1. When patients were stratified by p16 positive or negative status, the significant positive correlation between CD44 expression and MTOR remained for both the p16 positive and negative subsets, while correlations between CD44 and GLUT1 and c-MET and MTOR were seen in the p16 negative subset only. A significant correlation between MTOR and GLUT was seen overall and for the p16 positive subset. There were no significant correlations with EGFR. We found a negative correlation between CD44 and p16 status and a positive correlation between CD44 and MTOR. Prior work has shown that CD44, GLUT1, and c-MET expression correlate with worse survival in HNSCC, while MTOR expression correlates with worse survival in p16 negative patients only. These results suggest possible molecular pathways for patients with poor outcomes that could be exploited to improve outcomes for such patients.Abstract 3147;TableTable 1p16CD44C-METEGFRMTORCD44 (all, p16+, p16-)-0.28 (p = 0.004), -, --C-MET (all, p16+, p16-)-0.08 (p = 0.37), -, -0.05 (p = 0.61), 0.10 (p = 0.49), 0.00 (p = 0.997)-EGFR (all, p16+, p16-)-0.17 (p = 0.08), -, -0.02 (p = 0.85), -0.20 (p = 0.15), 0.11 (p = 0.43)-0.03 (p = 0.79), -0.02 (p = 0.88), -0.044 (p = 0.75)-MTOR (all, p16+, p16-)-0.12 (p = 0.22), -, -0.37 (p<0.001), 0.32 (p = 0.02), 0.39 (p = 0.004)0.24 (p = 0.01), 0.16 (p = 0.28), 0.03 (p = 0.03)-0.11 (p = 0.23), -0.24 (p = 0.08), -0.05 (p = 0.74)-GLUT1 (all, p16+, p16-)-0.12 (p = 0.23), -, -0.33 (p = 0.001), 0.17 (p = 0.21), 0.41 (p = 0.005)0.05 (p = 0.62), 0.08 (p = 0.55), 0.01 (p = 0.95)0.09 (p = 0.36), -0.04 (p = 0.77), 0.16 (p = 0.28)0.30 (p = 0.002), 0.30 (p = 0.03), 0.28 (p = 0.0.063) Open table in a new tab