Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prognostic and predictive impact of β-catenin, TCF21 and WISP1 expression in patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck who underwent primary radiotherapy or concomitant chemoradiotherapy.
Study design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: University hospital.
Participants: Protein expression profiles of β-catenin, TCF21, WISP1 and p16 were determined by immunohistochemical analyses in tissue samples of 59 untreated patients. Expression was correlated with different outcome parameters.
Main outcome measures: Impact of TNM classification, grading, sex, age, gender, type of therapy, response to therapy and p16 status on disease-specific (DSS) and disease-free survival (DFS).
Results: Patients with high expression of TCF21 were associated with significantly worse disease-specific survival (P = 0.005). In a multivariable analysis, TCF21 was a significant determinant of disease-specific survival. (HR 3.01; P = 0.036). Conversely, low expression of β-catenin (P = 0.025) and WISP1 (P = 0.037) revealed a better response to radiotherapy.
Conclusion: Since data show that TCF21 is a prognostic factor for disease-specific survival and WISP1 and ß-catenin are predictive factors for clinical outcome after definitive radiotherapy, further studies are warranted to prove these preliminary but very promising findings.
Keywords: TCF21; WISP1; WNT; prognosis; radiotherapy.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.