The expression of S100A2 protein was correlated with the differentiation and node-metastasis (P = 0.007, P = 0.001), but no relationship was observed between the expression of p63 protein and clinical pathological manifestations.
S100A2, a calcium-binding protein, recently became of major interest because of its differential expression during transformation and metastasis in various tumors.
Interestingly, whereas none of the metastases expressed S100A2 mRNA, and the expression level was low in 6 cell lines established from primary melanomas, all nevi showed moderate to high expression levels.
NOD/SCID mice injected s.c. with NSCLC cells overexpressing S100A2 developed significantly more distant metastasis (64%) than mice with control vector transfected tumor cells (17%; P < 0.05).
Our results indicate that patients with stage I or II invasive OSCC without S100A2 expression should be considered a high-risk group for late cervical metastasis when a wait-and-see policy for the neck is being considered.
To further confirm down-regulation of S100A2 in human metastasis, we examined S100A2 expression using immunohistochemical analysis of paraffin-embedded SCCHN tissues.