Purpose: To investigate the expression of ubiquitin specific protease 20 (USP20) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters.
Methods: OSCC samples and paired paracancerous samples were screened from the TCGA database for differential expression analysis and paired differential analysis. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression level of USP20 in OSCC tissue, paracancerous tissues and normal tissues. The correlation between USP20 expression level and clinicopathological parameters of tissue microarray was analyzed. GraphPad Prism 9.5.0 software was used for statistical analysis of the data.
Results: TCGA data showed that the expression of USP20 in OSCC was significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissue(P＜0.001). Immunohistochemical staining score showed that the expression of USP20 in OSCC was significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues and normal tissues(P＜0.01). The analysis of clinicopathological indicators of tissue microarray showed that the staining scores of USP20 were significantly different in tumor differentiation (P＜0.05) and primary tumor size (P＜0.01). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated no significant difference in overall survival time and 5-year survival rate between high expression group and low expression group (P＞0.05).
Conclusions: USP20 is highly expressed in OSCC compared with paracancerous tissues and normal oral tissues. The expression of USP20 is associated with differentiation and the size of primary tumor in OSCC，and can accelerate its growth.