The role of CD44 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression in predicting neck metastasis of supraglottic laryngeal carcinoma

Aim The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of CD44 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)–9 expression in predicting neck metastasis of supraglottic laryngeal carcinoma. Materials and methods Two hundred ninety-four supraglottic laryngeal cancers were treated surgically from 1991 to 2005. Ninety-four of the 294 patients had pathologically metastatic lymph node (pN+). Among the 94 patients, 30 pN+ patients were selected via random sampling. Sex-, T value–, and differentiation-matched 30 patients who had pathologically negative neck were also selected. CD44 and MMP-9 antibodies were applied to the tumor representative sections that were derived from paraffin sections by using the streptavidin-biotin method. The association between immunohistochemical results and histopathologic lymph node metastasis was analyzed statistically. The association between immunostaining of CD44 and MMP-9 was also analyzed. Results Overexpression of CD44 and MMP-9 was found to be significantly higher in pN+ patients. There was fair concordance between immunostaining of CD44 and MMP-9. Conclusion Although wider multiinstitutional and multidisciplinary studies are needed to draw specific conclusions, CD44 and MMP-9 can be useful in the prediction of neck metastasis in the supraglottic laryngeal carcinoma.