Purpose: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of B cell translocation gene 1 (BTG1) in oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC).
Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of BTG1 protein in 78 cases of OSCC tissues, 78 adjacent tissues, 20 normal oral mucosa tissues, and 80 cervical lymph nodes. Western blot and real-time quantitative PCR were used to detect BTG1 protein and mRNA expression levels in 78 OSCC tissues and adjacent tissues. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, Log rank test and Cox regression analysis were performed with SPSS 21.0 software package.
Results: The expression level of BTG1 in OSCC and cervical positive lymph nodes was significantly lower than that in normal tissues and negative lymph nodes adjacent to the cancer, and the expression of BTG1 in poorly differentiated OSCC was significantly lower than that in highly differentiated OSCC (P<0.05); Survival analysis showed the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival time(OS) of BTG1 low-expression group were significantly lower than those of high-expression group (P<0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that the degree of tumor differentiation, cervical lymph node metastasis, and BTG1 expression all affected patients' prognosis.
Conclusions: BTG1 is lowerly expressed in OSCC, with expression related to TNM stage and differentiation of OSCC but no relation with gender, age, and tumor location, including that BTG1 may be involved in the occurrence, development and prognosis of OSCC.