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.
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).
To further confirm down-regulation of S100A2 in human metastasis, we examined S100A2 expression using immunohistochemical analysis of paraffin-embedded SCCHN tissues.
S100A2, a calcium-binding protein, recently became of major interest because of its differential expression during transformation and metastasis in various tumors.
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.
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.