Abstract
Recent studies demonstrated high expression of lysosome-associated membrane protein 3 (LAMP3) in a variety of malignancies including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer and its involvement in several biological activities of tumor cells. However, the expression of LAMP3 and its value in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remain unclear. In this study, we examined the expression of LAMP3 in OSCC tissue samples and investigated the relationship between LAMP3 and clinical characteristics of patients with OSCC. We examined mRNA and protein levels of LAMP3 in OSCC tissues and neighboring normal tissues using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry analyses, respectively. Both the mRNA and protein levels of LAMP3 were significantly higher in OSCC tissues than in adjacent normal tissues. Chi-square analysis showed that the high LAMP3 expression was notably linked to the degree of tumor differentiation and advanced TNM stage. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the high LAMP3 expression was an independent prognostic marker in OSCC. Our results suggest that LAMP3 might act as a potential anticancer target and a prognostic marker in patients with OSCC.