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Introduction and Objectives: It is now generally accepted that angiogenesis is crucial in tumour growth. However, controversy still exists regarding the prognostic significance of angiogenesis in head and neck carcinomas. The aim of this paper is to determine the prognostic significance of angiogenesis in a homogeneously treated group of supraglottic squamous cell carcinomas., Material and Methods: 108 patients surgically treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the supraglottic larynx were studied. Angiogenesis was estimated in the primary tumour and in the nodal metastases by determining microvessel density using the "hot spot" method. Anti-CD34 antibody was used to stain blood vessels., Results: The mean microvessel density in primary tumours was 72+/-34 vessels/mm(2) and 58.5+/-31.5 vessels/mm(2) in nodal metastases. No correlation was found between microvessel density in the primary tumours and the corresponding nodal metastasis (P=0.195). No significant differences in microvessel density were observed in relation to clinico-pathological parameters or survival (P=0.19)., Conclusions: Our results suggest that microvessel density is not a useful prognostic marker in surgically treated supraglottic squamous cell carcinomas.

Introduction and Objectives: The successive acquisition of molecular alterations determines tumour progression. During this progression, the development of nodal metastases is one of the most important prognostic factors in laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas. The aim of this study is to analyze if, in these carcinomas, the molecular alterations in the nodal metastases are different from those present in the primary tumour., Material and Method: Paired samples of primary tumour and nodal metastases from 51 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the supraglottic larynx were studied. Using immunohistochemistry, we analyzed the expression of p53, E-cadherin, FAK, annexin A2 and HIF-1a proteins. In addition, the apoptotic index (measuring activated caspase-3) and the degree of vascularization (identified by CD34 antigen expression) were also studied., Results: A close correlation in the expression of the proteins studied was observed in the nodal metastases and the corresponding primary tumour, with the exception of HIF-1a expression and the degree of vascularization., Conclusions: Most of the molecular alterations in the nodal metastases are already present in the primary tumour, suggesting that these alterations are early events in carcinogenesis.

Introduction and Objectives: FAK expression is frequently elevated in human cancers, including head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. However, the regulation of FAK expression is poorly understood. The aim of this study is to establish the possible role of the p53 tumour suppressor gene in the regulation of FAK expression in squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx., Material and Method: The expression of FAK and p53 proteins were studied using immunohistochemistry in 102 samples from surgically-treated squamous cell carcinomas of the supraglottic larynx (with postoperative radiotherapy in 49 cases)., Results: All the cases showed some degree of FAK expression, which was moderate to intense in 60 cases (59 %). Also 60 cases showed positive p53 expression (>10 % of tumour cells with nuclear staining). No relationship was observed between p53 positivity and FAK expression (P= .54). In addition, none of these proteins presented association with the prognosis of the patients., Conclusions: Our results suggests that p53 activity does not correlate with FAK expression in squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx.