Journal of Carcinogenesis & Mutagenesis

Abstract

Detection Level of Salivary Survivin in Patients with OSCC

Santarelli A, Mascitti M, Lo Russo L, Colella G, Giannatempo G, Bambini F, Emanuelli M, Procaccini M and Lo Muzio L

Abstract
Introduction: Survivin is a member of the Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) proteins family, broadly expressed in most solid and haematological malignancies, but almost undetectable in normal adult tissues. Regarding Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC), Survivin expression seems to be correlated with aggressive phenotype and unfavorable outcome. In this work, the effectiveness of Survivin detection in saliva samples as diagnostic tool was investigated.
Methods: 55 saliva samples from patients with histological diagnosis of OSCC and 30 samples from healthy controls matched for age and gender were collected. All samples from OSCC were collected before therapy. Saliva was analyzed using Assay Designs human Total Survivin TiterZyme® Enzyme Immunometric Assay (EIA) kit for Survivin detection and quantification. Survivin concentration (pg/ml) was studied in relationship to clinical data. Univariate statistical analysis was performed.
Results: 35/55 (63.6%) among OSCC patients were found to be positive for surviving expression in saliva vs 12/30 (40%) among health controls; but the mean value was found to be higher in OSCC group (8,69 pg/ml ± 10,15 vs 2.44 pg/ml ± 4.22) reaching statistical significance (p<0.05). Moreover, samples from patients at an early stage (I+II) displayed a lower content of salivary Survivin than those at advanced stage (III+IV) (7.09 pg/ml ± 8.59 vs 8.13 pg/ml ± 10.94). In addition, cases characterized by lymph node metastasis showed a higher surviving concentration (9.38 pg/ml ± 11.26) than cases without metastasis (5.77 pg/ml ± 8.21).
Discussion: Salivary Survivin seems to be an interesting biomarker for OSCC, but its use as a single marker may be not sufficient for the early diagnosis of OSCC