Prognostic Value of Elevated SHIP2 Expression in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background and AimsSHIP2, an important negative regulator of insulin signaling, has recently been found to be involved in cancer development and progression.MethodsIn this study, immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate SHIP2 expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) clinical samples. Additionally, the relationship of SHIP2 expression to clinicopathological parameters and prognosis was investigated.ResultsSHIP2 expression was detected in 42 (42/54, 77.8%) primary tumor samples but only in three (3/16, 18.75%) adjacent normal samples (p <0.001). Moreover, SHIP2 expression was closely associated with T classification (p = 0.006), clinical stage (I + II/III + IV) (p = 0.001), metastasis (p = 0.002) and recurrence (p = 0.004). Survival analysis revealed that high SHIP2 expression was significantly associated with shorter disease-free and overall survival (both p <0.001). When lymph node status and SHIP2 expression were combined, lymph node-positive patients with SHIP2 overexpression had both poorer disease-free and overall survival than the others (both p <0.001). Multivariate analysis further demonstrated that SHIP2 was an independent prognostic factor for patients with LSCC.ConclusionsCollectively, these results support the hypothesis that SHIP2 may play a critical role in the initiation and progression of LSCC and may serve as both a prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target in patients with LSCC.