Comparison of quantum dot technology with conventional immunohistochemistry in examining aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 as a potential biomarker for lymph node metastasis of head and neck cancer.

ABSTRACT: This study explored whether the expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1A1) in the primary tumour correlated with lymph node metastasis (LNM) of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). We used both quantum dot (QD)-based immunohistofluorescence (IHF) and conventional immunohistochemistry (IHC) to quantify ALDH1A1 expression in primary tumour samples taken from 96 HNSCC patients, 50 with disease in the lymph nodes and 46 without. The correlation between the quantified level of ALDH1A1 expression and LNM in HNSCC patients was evaluated with univariate and multivariate analysis. The prognostic value of ALDH1A1 was examined by Kaplan-Meier analysis and Wald test. ALDH1A1 was highly correlated with LNM in HNSCC patients (p<0.0001 by QD-based IHF and 0.039 by IHC). The two met

SUBMITTER: Xu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3381072 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature