Expression of ezrin and moesin related to invasion, metastasis and prognosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

We examined the expression of ezrin and moesin in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and their correlation with patient clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival. Immunohistochemical staining and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for ezrin and moesin were applied to 60 carcinoma tissues, adjacent normal tissues, and 33 metastatic lymph nodes. Survival functions were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. RT-PCR demonstrated that the intensity ratios of ezrin and moesin to beta-actin were higher in LSCC than in adjacent normal mucous membrane (P < 0.05). Furthermore, intensity ratios were higher in cervical metastatic lymph nodes than in LSCC (P < 0.05). Immunohistochemical staining showed that ezrin and moesin were well distributed in the cell membrane and cytoplasm. Expression was significantly different between LSCC and adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.05); moreover, expression in the cervical metastatic lymph nodes was higher than in LSCC (P < 0.05). Expression of ezrin and moesin was significantly related to clinical stage, T stage, and cervical lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05), except that moesin showed no significant relationship with clinical stage (P > 0.05). Patients with negative ezrin and moesin expression had a significantly longer overall survival time compared to patients with moderate and intense ezrin and moesin expression (P < 0.001, P < 0.05). Ezrin and moesin expression is related to LSCC invasion and metastasis, and may be important molecular markers for predicting prognosis and therapeutic targets in LSCC patients.