IN SILICO ANALYSIS OF SPP1 EXPRESSION AND ITS ROLE IN HEAD AND NECK SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

• Published in: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology, 2022-09, Vol.134 (3), p.e214-e214
• Main Authors: Santos, Erison Santana Dos, Da Silva Cardoso, Renato, Catunda, Raisa Queiroz, Ramos, Joab Cabral, Leme, Adriana Franco Paes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2212-4403; 2212-4411
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oooo.2022.01.671

This study aimed to assess the prognostic and clinicopathologic value of SPP1 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and its correlation with immune infiltrate. The analysis of gene expression was performed using GEPIA2, TIMER, and Oncomine tools. UALCAN was used to verify the association between SPP1 and clinical and pathologic factors. TIMER assessed the correlation between immune infiltrate and SPP1. The tissue expression of SPP1 was analyzed in the Human Protein Atlas. Survival analysis was performed in Kaplan-Meier plotter database. All databases use samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas, and a P value < .05 was considered statistically significant. SPP1 was overexpressed in HNSCC and was related to cancer stage, race, tumor grade, human papillomavirus status, and nodal metastasis status. SPP1 expression was associated with infiltration of CD8+, CD4+, macrophages, and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and low CD8+ infiltrate was associated with poor prognosis. In immunohistochemical analysis, SPP1 was overexpressed in HNSCC. Overexpression of SPP1 was associated with decreased overall survival and recurrence-free survival. The high expression of SPP1 has prognostic value in HNSCC and may be used as a therapeutic target.