ECE-1 overexpression in head and neck cancer is associated with poor tumor differentiation and patient outcome.

BACKGROUND: Endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1) primarily converts Big Endothelins (ETs) into active Endothelin-1 (ET-1). However, the expression pattern and prognostication status of ECE-1 in head and neck cancer (HNC) are enigmatic. In this study, we investigated ECE-1 expression and assessed the roles of ECE-1 as a predictor for HNC differentiation and prognosis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: ECE-1 expressions were evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis using a tissue microarray (TMA) composed of 100 cases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The correlation of ECE-1 expression with clinicopathologic variables and patient outcomes were analyzed.

RESULTS: ECE-1 may be over-expressed in HNC carcinoma cells. Higher ECE-1 level was detected more frequently in moderately to poorly differentiated tumors and showed a lower differentiation category compared to the G1 cases (P = .015); this finding was further confirmed by an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 4.071 (P = .042). Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival analyses showed that a higher ECE-1 expression was associated with a poorer survival in HNC patients (P < .0001). On multivariate Cox proportional hazards models analysis, ECE-1 of high-expression proved to be an independent prognostic factor with a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.985 (P < .001).

CONCLUSION: Our data provide the first evidence that over-expression of ECE-1 in HNC is a predictor of poor tumor differentiation and prognosis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.