Establishment of subtype classification of salivary gland cancer for treatment selection

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K17279
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Surgical dentistry
• Research Institution: Kagoshima University
• Principal Investigator: YOSHIMURA TAKUYA 鹿児島大学, 医歯学域鹿児島大学病院, 助教 (30726758)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 唾液腺がん / PEP19 / HER2 / MUC6 / 粘表皮癌

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We confirm the expression of 12 factors by immunohistochemistry in patients diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma and undergoing radical surgery. In this study, we clarified that expression of PEP19, HER2, MUC4, and MUC6 was associated with prognosis. In addition, it was found that the accuracy of prognosis prediction was further improved by combining each of them rather than examining them alone. This suggests that subtype classification using PEP19, HER2, MUC4, and MUC6 may be useful in mucoepidermoid carcinoma. In other salivary gland cancers, the expression of each target molecule was confirmed at a certain rate, and further accumulation of cases was necessary.

Free Research Field

口腔外科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで唾液腺がんにおいて有効な分子標的薬は明らかとなっていなかったが、今回粘表皮癌ではHER2、PEP19、MUC4、MUC6の発現は明らかに唾液腺がん患者の生命予後に関係することが
明らかとなった。さらにEGFRも粘表皮癌において発現が多いことから、治療対象となり得る可能性も考えられた。そのメカニズムを明らかにするためにはさらなる研究が必要であるが、今回の研究で唾液腺の治療に既存の分子標的治療薬が使用できる可能性が示唆された。