Clinical Significance and Prognostic Value of SOX2 Protein Expression in Patients With Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objectives: Cancer stem cells are a small group of highly tumorigenic cells with the trend of self-renewal, tumor progression, metastasis, recurrence, and therapeutic resistance. SOX2 is an important cancer stem cell marker that is involved in tumorigenesis and correlated with aggressive features in various types of malignancies. The present study was aimed to investigate the expression of this biomarker in neoplastic tissues of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) to determine whether it has the potential to predict the outcomes and survival of the affected patients. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 73 patients diagnosed with OSCC were retrospectively studied. Clinical and pathologic features included age, sex, tumor size, histologic grade, lymph node involvement, recurrence, metastasis, and follow up. Immunohistochemical analysis for SOX2 protein expression was performed, and its correlations with clinicopathologic features were evaluated. Results: SOX2 was significantly associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and patients' survival. We found no apparent correlation between SOX2 and tumor recurrence, distant metastasis, or differentiation. The multivariate analysis identifies patients' age, sex, and SOX2 expression as independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Conclusion: SOX2 may worsen the prognosis and be a progressive malignant factor, which can help clinicians investigate OSCC patients' survival and plan the appropriate treatment accordingly.