The
polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase (GalNAc-Ts) family of
enzymes regulates the critical initial steps of
mucin-type O-glycosylation. Among GalNAc-Ts that may significantly influence
cancer biology, thus affecting cell differentiation, adhesion, invasion, and/or
metastasis,
GalNAc-T3 exhibits a high expression in several human
cancers, closely associated with
tumor progression and a poor prognosis. However, the expression pattern of
GalNAc-T3 in
oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains obscure. Since postoperative recurrence of even early stage OSCC (ESOSCC) occurs at an early phase, significantly affecting their
clinical course and worse outcome, the identification of clinically significant accurate
biomarkers is needed. Therefore, we investigated the correlation between the immunohistochemical
GalNAc-T3 expression and various clinicopathological characteristics and recurrence using 110
paraffin-embedded
tumor samples obtained from patients with surgically resected ESOSCC (T1-2N0). Recurrence was recognized in 37 of 110 (33.6 %) patients. The
GalNAc-T3 expression was considered to be strongly positive when 20 % or more of the
cancer cells showed positive cytoplasmic staining. Consequently, a strong expression of
GalNAc-T3 was observed in 40 patients (36.4 %), showing a close relationship to poor differentiation, the presence of lymphatic and vascular invasion, and recurrence. Univariate and multivariate analyses further demonstrated that the patients with a strong GalNAc-T3+ status had markedly lower disease-free survival (DFS) rates, especially within the first 2 years postoperatively. Therefore,
GalNAc-T3 might play a role in the pathogenesis of ESOSCC recurrence, and its immunohistochemical detection potentially predicts a shorter DFS and may be a useful parameter for providing clinical management against ESOSCC in the early postoperative phase.