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. 2015 Apr 23;10(4):e0124322.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124322. eCollection 2015.

Impact of somatic mutations in the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA on the survival of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients

Jin-Ching Lin  1 , Chen-Chi Wang  2 , Rong-San Jiang  3 , Wen-Yi Wang  4 , Shih-An Liu  2
Affiliations

Impact of somatic mutations in the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA on the survival of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients

Jin-Ching Lin et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate somatic mutations in the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and their impact on survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Materials and methods: Surgical specimen confirmed by pathological examination and corresponding non-cancerous tissues were collected from 120 oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. The sequence in the D-loop of mtDNA from non-cancerous tissues was compared with that from paired cancer samples and any sequence differences were recognized as somatic mutations.

Results: Somatic mutations in the D-loop of mtDNA were identified in 75 (62.5%) oral squamous cell carcinoma patients and most of them occurred in the poly-C tract. Although there were no significant differences in demographic and tumor-related features between participants with and without somatic mutation, the mutation group had a better survival rate (5 year disease-specific survival rate: 64.0% vs. 43.0%, P = 0.0266).

Conclusion: Somatic mutation in D-loop of mtDNA was associated with a better survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Univariate analysis of the effect of somatic mutations in the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA on survival of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Disease-specific survival curves of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients based on the somatic mutations in the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA and stratified by pathological stage.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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