Low expression of AIM2 combined with high expression of p‑STAT3 is associated with poor prognosis in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Li,Zhen; Shi,Xinli; Li,Hui; Wang,Weiyi; Li,Xiaoming

doi:10.3892/or.2019.7029

Low expression of AIM2 combined with high expression of p‑STAT3 is associated with poor prognosis in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Authors:
- Zhen Li
- Xinli Shi
- Hui Li
- Weiyi Wang
- Xiaoming Li
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Affiliations: Department of Otolaryngology, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050082, P.R. China, Department of Pathology, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050082, P.R. China
Published online on: February 25, 2019 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2019.7029
Pages: 2396-2408

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Abstract

Studies indicate that the AIM2 inflammasome plays an important role in tumor occurrence and development. The present study examined the prognostic significance of AIM2 expression and the correlation between AIM2 expression and p‑STAT3 expression in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC), which remain unknown. AIM2 and p‑STAT3 were detected using immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 111 parafﬁn‑embedded tissue samples from primary HSCC sites and 20 samples from matched adjacent non‑malignant sites. Western blotting was utilized to investigate AIM2, p‑STAT3 and total STAT3 in 5 pairs of fresh tissue samples. Western blotting indicated that AIM2 expression was significantly lower (P<0.05), but that p‑STAT3 levels and the p‑STAT3/STAT3 ratio were higher (P<0.01) in HSCC tissues than in adjacent normal hypopharyngeal tissues. IHC analysis of the 111 HSCC samples revealed low AIM2 and high p‑STAT3 expression in 48 (43.2%) and 58 (52.3%) samples, respectively. High AIM2 expression and low p‑STAT3 expression were detected in 13 (75%) and 18 (90%) adjacent normal hypopharyngeal tissue samples, respectively. In the HSCC samples, low AIM2 expression was closely related to lymph node metastasis and intravascular tumor thrombus (P<0.05). Kaplan‑Meier survival curves revealed that low AIM2 levels were strongly associated with poor survival for HSCC patients (P<0.0001). Additionally, Cox proportional hazards regression models indicated that low AIM2 expression significantly predicted poor prognosis for HSCC patients (P<0.0001), and multivariate analysis revealed that AIM2 expression could be an independent prognostic factor for HSCC patients (P<0.0001). Furthermore, AIM2 expression was negatively correlated with p‑STAT3 expression in the HSCC tissue samples, and combined analysis revealed that patients with low AIM2 and high p‑STAT3 levels had the worst survival rate. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis confirmed that AIM2 was predictive of specific survival in all HSCC patients [area under the curve (AUC)=0.7160]. In conclusion, our data suggested that for HSCC patients, AIM2 and p‑STAT3 expression detected via IHC could serve as a biomarker to predict tumor progression and as an independent prognostic factor.

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