PIK3CA, which encodes the catalytic subunit, p110-alpha, of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), is implicated in the development and progression of numerous neoplasias including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In the present study, we investigated the occurrence of PIK3CA hot-spot mutations in exons 9 and 20, the genomic gain and amplification of PIK3CA, the expression of PIK3CA mRNA and the p110α protein, as well as the expression of phosphorylated-Akt (pAkt) in 33 cases of HNSCC and compared the results with the clinicopathological data. No non-synonymous mutations were detected. PIK3CA copy number gain and amplification were found in 36.4 and 9% of the cases, respectively, whereas mRNA overexpression was observed in 48.5% of the cases. No correlations could be stated between DNA gain, DNA amplification and mRNA expression, either between DNA or mRNA status and p110α expression. Direct associations were found between PIK3CA gain and lymph node metastases (p=0.025) and between mRNA expression and tumour stage (p=0.015). A strong correlation was detected between p110α and pAkt expression (p<0.001). Concluding, PIK3CA could be an oncogene implicated in HNSCC development. However, our data suggest that amplifications or mutations of this gene seldom occur in HNSCC and that epigenetic events can play an important role in advanced tumour stages.

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