A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Evaluation of prognostic biomarkers in a population-validated Finnish HNSCC patient cohort




AuthorsRoutila Johannes, Leivo Iivo, Minn Heikki, Westermarck Jukka, Ventelä Sami

PublisherSPRINGER

Publication year2021

JournalEuropean Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology

Journal name in sourceEUROPEAN ARCHIVES OF OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGY

Journal acronymEUR ARCH OTO-RHINO-L

Volume278

First page 4575

Last page4585

Number of pages11

ISSN0937-4477

eISSN1434-4726

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-021-06650-7(external)

Web address https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00405-021-06650-7(external)

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/53431233(external)


Abstract

Introduction

Prognostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic approaches have been slow to emerge in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In this study, an HNSCC patient cohort is created and performance of putative prognostic biomarkers investigated in a population-validated setting. The overall goal is to develop a novel way to combine biomarker analyses with population-level clinical data on HNSCC patients and thus to improve the carryover of biomarkers into clinical practice. 

Materials and methods

To avoid selection biases in retrospective study design, all HNSCC patients were identified and corresponding clinical data were collected from the Southwest Finland geographical area. A particular emphasis was laid on avoiding potential biases in sample selection for immunohistochemical staining analyses. Staining results were evaluated for potential prognostic resolution. 

Results

After comprehensive evaluation, the patient cohort was found to be representative of the background population in terms of clinical characteristics such as patient age and TNM stage distribution. A negligible drop-out of 1.3% (6/476) was observed during the first follow-up year. By immunohistochemical analysis, the role of previously implicated HNSCC biomarkers (p53, EGFR, p16, CIP2A, Oct4, MET, and NDFIP1) was investigated.

Discussion

​​​​​​​Our exceptionally representative patient material supports the use of population validation to improve the applicability of results to real-life situations. The failure of the putative prognostic biomarkers emphasizes the need for controlling bias in retrospective studies, especially in the heterogenous tumor environment of HNSCC. The resolution of simple prognostic examination is unlikely to be sufficient to identify biomarkers for clinical practice of HNSCC.


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Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 13:02