Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (
HNSCC) is the sixth most common type of
cancer, affecting ~500,000 individuals worldwide annually.
Collagen is the major constituent of the extracellular matrix component in
tumors and plays a crucial role in
tumor development. The aim of this study was to determine the
mRNA expression of type XXI, XXII, XXIII and XXIV α1
collagen (COL21A1, COL22A1, COL23A1 and COL24A1, respectively) in
head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (
HNSCC) and investigate its correlation with
disease progression. This study investigated the
mRNA expression levels of COL21A1, COL22A1, COL23A1 and COL24A1 in 70
HNSCC primary samples and 44 matched pairs of
tumor and adjacent normal mucosal tissues using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Expression data were compared to the clinicopathological variables in order to determine the correlation between expression and
disease progression. Our results demonstrated that the
mRNA levels of COL22A1 and COL24A1 were significantly higher in
HNSCC tissues compared to those in the corresponding normal tissues from the same individuals (n=44; P<0.001 and P=0.019, respectively). The COL22A1
mRNA levels were found to be significantly associated with
lymph node metastasis (P=0.018) and pathological stage (P=0.024), whereas the COL24A1
mRNA levels were significantly associated with
tumor size (P=0.045). The high expression levels of COL22A1 and COL24A1
mRNA were statistically correlated with a decrease in disease-free survival (DFS) (log-rank test, P<0.001). The results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that high expression levels of the COL22A1 and COL24A1 gene pair were associated with a high odds ratio for recurrence of 14.62 (95% confidence interval: 2.77-77.26; P=0.002). Therefore, the upregulation of COL22A1 and COL24A1
mRNA may play a critical role in the progression of
HNSCC and provide useful information as a prognostic predictor for
HNSCC patients.