Abstract:

Objective

To evaluate the expression and its clinicopathological significance of EphA2 in normal salivary tissue， benign and malignant salivary tumors.

Methods

Immunohistochemical staining was used to quantify the protien expression levels of EphA2 in 10 normal salivary tissues， 30 pleomorphic adeonomas， 30 mucoepidermoid carcinomas and 30 adenoid cystic carcinomas. The relationship between the expression of EphA2 and clinicopathologic data was analyzed， including age， sex， location， tumor size， TNM stage， recurrence and lymphatic metastasis. The difffernces of EphA2 expression were compared among normal salivary tissue， pleomorphic adeonoma， mucoepidermoid carcinoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma seperately.

Results

In all normal salivary tissues，the EphA2 staining were detected in glandular tube epithelium while EphA2 expression was almost absent in acinic cells. EphA2 expression increased in turn of normal salivary tissue， pleomorphic adeonoma and salivary carcinoma（including MEC and ACC）， and the differences were significant （P ＜0.05）. EphA2 expression in salivary carcinomas significantly correlated with tumor size， clinical stage， recurrence and lymphatic metastasis （P ＜0.05）.

Conclusion

The results implicated that EphA2 might be related to tumorigenesis， progression and prognosis of salivary tumors.

Key words: Salivary gland tumors, Pleomorphic adeonoma, Mucoepidermoid carcinoma, Adenoid cystic carcinoma, EphA2, Cinicopathology