Overexpression of integrin αv in the human nasopharyngeal carcinoma associated with metastasis and progression

BACKGROUND: Integrins are cell-surface adhesion molecules, regulate normal cellular interactions, and which are consisting of alpha and beta subunits and facilitate signal transduction in a bidirectional manner. Tumor cells have been found to express a wide variety of integrins, overexpression of integrin alpha v has been detected in a growing number of human malignancy types, However, the reports obout expression of integrin alpha v in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are very rare. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to detect the expression of integrin av in NPC, and to evaluate the correlation between integrin alpha v expression and clinicopathological factors. METHODS: Real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) assay and immunohistochemical staining were performed to detect the expression of integrin alpha v in NPC tissue samples. The correlation between the integrin alpha v expression and clinicopathological factors was evaluated. RESULTS: In NPC tissues, the expression levels of integrin alpha v mRNA was significantly higher than those in the nasopharyngeal inflammation tissues (P < 0.05), and the expression level were significantly correlated with T, N and clinical stage (all P < 0.05). Moreover, the expression rates of integrin alpha v protein in NPC tissues was 76.92%, significantly higher than that of nasopharyngeal inflammation tissues (6.25%, P < 0.05). We also observed that the protein expression of integrin alpha v was significantly related to T, N and clinical stage (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: All these findings suggest that overexpression of integrin alpha v is closely associated with metastasis and progression of NPC. Therefore, we can speculate that integrin alpha v could be effective prognostic markers in the future for individualized treatment of patients with NPC.