FADD expression as a prognosticator in early-stage glottic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx treated primarily with radiotherapy

Abstract

Purpose: We recently reported on the identification of the Fas-associated death domain (FADD) as a possible driver of the chromosome 11q13 amplicon and the association between increased FADD expression and disease-specific survival in advanced-stage laryngeal carcinoma. The aim of this study was to examine whether expression of FADD and its Ser194-phosphorylated isoform (pFADD) predicts local control in patients with early-stage glottic carcinoma primarily treated with radiotherapy only.

Methods and materials: Immunohistochemical staining for FADD and pFADD was performed on pretreatment biopsy specimens of 92 patients with T1-T2 glottic squamous cell carcinoma primarily treated with radiotherapy between 1996 and 2005. Cox regression analysis was used to correlate expression levels with local control.

Results: High levels of pFADD were associated with significantly better local control (hazard ratio, 2.40; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-5.55; p = 0.040). FADD overexpression showed a trend toward better local control (hazard ratio, 3.656; 95% confidence interval, 0.853-15.663; p = 0.081). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that high pFADD expression was the best predictor of local control after radiotherapy.

Conclusions: This study showed that expression of phosphorylated FADD is a new prognostic biomarker for better local control after radiotherapy in patients with early-stage glottic carcinomas.