Osteopontin is a useful predictor of bone metastasis and survival in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Bone is the most common metastatic site in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Osteopontin (OPN) and bone sialoprotein (BSP) are demonstrated to be involved in multiple steps of distant metastasis and correlate with bone metastasis (BM) in cancers. We aim to explore the impacts of OPN and BSP on the prognosis of the patients with locally advanced NPC. A tissue microarray including 162 locally advanced NPC specimens was generated for immunohistochemical evaluation. All of the patients received curative treatment. Twenty-two patients developed BM during follow-up. The OPN expression level was higher in patients with BM than in those without BM (p 5 0.005), whereas no significant difference of the BSP expression level was noted (p 5 0.634). Univariate analysis demonstrated that a higher level of OPN expression associated with a poorer 8-year metastasis-free survival (MFS) rate (p < 0.001), 8-year bone metastasis-free survival (BMFS) rate (93.6 vs. 87.5 vs. 64.5% for immunoreactivity score 1, 2 and 3, respectively; p 5 0.001) and median overall survival (OS) time (p < 0.001). Multivariate Cox analysis confirmed that high level of OPN expression was independent factor associated with decreased BMFS (p 5 0.02), MFS (p < 0.001) and OS (p < 0.001). Our findings indicate that OPN is a prognostic biomarker for BM and survival in patients with locally advanced NPC, and therefore it is useful in identifying the patients with an increased risk of cancer progression and BM to guide tailored therapy.

CT-diagnosed severe skull base bone destruction predicts distant bone metastasis in early N-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma

“…The application of bisphosphonates might be feasible in simultaneously improving both the survival rate and survival quality by reducing or replacing adjuvant chemotherapy. Recently, some new biomarkers like osteopontin were found to be a useful predictor for bone metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma 21. Their combination with skull base bone destruction may predict bone metastasis more accurately.…”

Unique Metabolic Adaptations Dictate Distal Organ-Specific Metastatic Colonization

“…OPN is a matrix glycoprotein that is expressed in the cells of the bone, and it helps facilitate bone mineralization and remodeling through paracrine and autocrine signaling via integrins (Kruger et al, 2014). In locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma, OPN expression level was significantly higher in patients with bone metastases, and served as a prognostic biomarker for survival (Hou et al, 2015). A similar pattern is seen in breast cancer, where 83% of bone metastases exhibit high OPN expression, compared to 42% of all breast tumors (Carlinfante et al, 2003).…”

Perioperative changes in osteopontin and TGFβ1 plasma levels and their prognostic impact for radiotherapy in head and neck cancer

“…Additionally it is overexpressed in many cancer types [9] and plays an important role in tumor progression [10]. Furthermore, it was shown that elevated plasma levels are associated with an unfavorable outcome in cancer [11–16]. High OPN levels are also correlated with tumor hypoxia which is a main resistance factor to radiation treatment [17, 18].…”