Objective: To determine whether levels of PH-20, a hyaluronidase similar to
that found in human sperm, are elevated in laryngeal cancer tissue.
Design: In this case-control study, reverse transcription polymerase chain
reaction was used to measure levels of PH-20 messenger RNA in tissue taken
from laryngectomy specimens.
Setting: A university medical center.
Patients: We compared tissue samples taken from 11 patients with laryngeal
cancer, and from 2 metastatic lymph nodes, with samples of normal, healthy
laryngeal tissue and prostate cancer tissue (positive control).
Main Outcome Measure: PH-20 complementary DNA expression as quantified by d
ensitometric analysis.
Results: Expression of PH-20 was significantly higher in nonirradiated lary
ngeal cancer specimens than in normal laryngeal tissue (P<.01). Metastatic
lymph nodes also had higher levels of PH-20 expression than did primary lar
yngeal cancer tissue (P =.11) and normal laryngeal tissue (P<.01). Irradiat
ed laryngeal cancer specimens had PH-20 levels comparable to normal.
Conclusions: We report the first data on PH-20 expression in laryngeal canc
er tissue. PH-20 expression is significantly elevated in primary laryngeal
cancer tissue and seems to be even higher in metastatic lesions compared wi
th normal laryngeal tissue. PH-20 may be a useful tumor marker and prognost
ic tool for laryngeal cancer.