Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between the rate of proliferation and immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin, and their predictive role in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Samples were collected from 50 patients with HNSCC, and the expression of Ki-67 and E-cadherin was evaluated by immunohisto-chemistry (IHC). Previously, samples were conventionally stained with haematoxylin and eosin for histological diagnosis and grade. RESULTS: High E-cadherin expression was predominantly associated with less differentiated tumours (p<0.5; p=0.0305). Also, we observed a significant correlation between Ki-67 expression in tumour cells and tumour grade (p=0.0245). A strong correlation was noticed between low E-cadherin expression, increased Ki-67-proliferation rate and advanced T2-T3 tumour stage (p=0.0242). CONCLUSION: In this study we showed that Ki-67 proliferation rate and E-cadherin expression are important features in patients with HNSCC. Therefore, higher Ki-67 index values correlate with loss of E-cadherin expression, which indicates a poorer prognosis. These aspects support the use of both Ki-67 and E-cadherin as prognostic markers in specimens from patients with HNSCC.