Expression and clinical significance of FGFR1 and FGFR2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) may be of significance in the development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) tissues. Examination of the expression results of these factors may offer new insights into treatment of the disease, such as genetic and histological targeted target therapy.

Methods: We selected tissue from 30 cases of laryngeal SCC, 23 cases of adjacent normal mucosa, and 26 cases of benign laryngeal mucosal tissues from patients who received surgery at the Otolaryngology Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical College between September 2020 and January 2022. The laryngeal cancers included nine cases of supraglottic, 20 glottic (vocal cord), and one case of subglottic cancer, while all benign laryngeal mucosal lesions were obtained from vocal cord polyps. The expression of FGFR1 and FGFR2 was detected in 30 laryngeal cancers, 23 adjacent normal mucosa, and 26 vocal cord polyps by immunohistochemical technology [immunohistochemistry (IHC)], and the correlation analysis of their expression in laryngeal cancer was performed. P<0.05 was represented statistically significant.

Results: The expression of FGFR1 and FGFR2 was significantly different in laryngeal SCC and the normal tissue >0.5 cm from the tumor margin (P<0.05), and between laryngeal SCC and vocal polyps (P<0.05). There was no difference in FGFR1 and FGFR2 expression (P>0.05) between normal mucosal margins and vocal cord polyp tissue, and no correlation between FGFR1 and FGFR2 in laryngeal SCC and sex, age, smoking history, alcohol consumption history, tumor diameter, tumor lymph node metastasis, tumor differentiation degree, and Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) stage (P>0.05), A moderate positive correlation between FGFR1 expression and FGFR2 expression in laryngeal SCC was seen (Rs=0.499, P<0.01).

Conclusions: FGFR1 and FGFR2 may participate in the occurrence of SCC of the throat: (I) positive FGFR1 and FGFR2 expressions are not associated with gender, age, smoking history, alcohol consumption history, tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis, degree of differentiation, or TNM stage. (II) FGFR2 increases successively with higher FGFR1 expression and with a positive correlation in laryngeal SCC.