SMU Medical Journal

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Perineural invasion (PNI) is a unique route of tumor metastasis that is strongly associated with poor prognosis in several solid malignancies including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Recently, we investigated the pattern of Lympho-Epithelial Kazal-Type-Inhibitor (LEKTI) expression in primary tumor specimens of patients with SCC of the oral tongue in correlation with PNI and showed a strong association between absence of LEKTI expression and occurrence of PNI. Based upon the negative correlation of LEKTI expression with PNI in SCC of the tongue, we hypothesized that the same correlation may exist in SCC of the skin. Here, we selected a total of 11 cases with PNI and 15 cases without PNI. Our analyses showed a strong correlation between LEKTI expression and PNI in SCC of the skin and suggested that LEKTI might also be one of the critical molecules involved in the regulation of PNI of neuroendocrine cancers including of HNSCC.

Keywords

LEKTI, Perineural Invasion, HNSCC.
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