Ki-67 (MIB1), p53, and Lewis-X (LeuM1) as prognostic factors of recurrencein T1 and T2 laryngeal carcinoma

Objectives: Recently published data suggest a prognostic value of immunohis tochemical proliferation markers for limited laryngeal carcinoma. Previous studies have reported contrasting findings on this issue. In this context, different treatment modalities may be responsible for contradictory finding s. To study the relationship between proliferative activity-expressed by th e immunohistochemical labeling index of proliferation-associated markers Ki -67 (MIB1), Lewis-X (LeuM1), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and by p53 status-and treatment failure in a matched-pair study on recurren t and nonrecurrent T1 and T2 glottic carcinoma having received primary tran soral laser surgery. Methods: Twenty-one patients with tumor recurrence wer e randomly selected and matched with 26 patients with nonrecurrent disease regarding histopathological grading and age. MIB1 staining was used to dete rmine the Ki-67 labeling index, and LeuM1 staining for detecting the Lewis- X antigen; immunohistochemistry determined the p53 status and PCNA labeling index. Results: The Ki-67 labeling index was significantly (P = .001) high er in tumors from patients who had treatment failure (mean = 20.02%) than i n patients who did not fail treatment (" honfailures") (mean = 9.95%). Carc inoma with a Ki-67 (MIB1) labeling index above the median (15%) of the gene ral study population showed a mean time to relapse of 23 months (n = 21), c ompared with 50 months for cases (n = 26) below the median (P = .016). PCNA labeling index correlated less impressively with tumor recurrence (mean = 28.59% for treatment failures, mean 21.75% for nonfailures, P = .022). Posi tive detection of the Lewis-X antigen was significantly associated with rec urrence (P = .015) and time to relapse (P = .006), Status of p53 was not a significant prognostic factor. Conclusion: The Ki-67 (MIB1) labeling index may be associated with early relapse of limited laryngeal carcinoma treated with transoral laser surgery. Since the prognostic relevance of Ki-67 seem s to be different for radiological and surgical concepts of treatment, Ki-6 7 might become useful as criterion of therapy selection. The Lewis-X antige n, for the first time used on laryngeal carcinoma, seems to be a strong pro gnostic marker deserving further investigations.