The expression of EMP1 is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and possibly associated with tumour metastasis.

AIMS To investigate the expression of EMP1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues and its correlation with available clinical parameters of patients with OSCC. METHODS The mRNA levels of EMP1 were measured in 18 paired OSCC and corresponding adjacent normal tissues using RT-PCR. Another 45 pairs of OSCC samples were selected to detect the mRNA level of EMP1 using quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). The protein levels of EMP1 were also evaluated in 60 cases of patients with OSCC using immunohistochemical staining. The correlation between EMP1 expression and clinical parameters was analysed with non-parametric analysis. RESULTS The results of RT-PCR and qRT-PCR showed that, compared with the paired normal tissues, the mRNA levels of EMP1 were significantly decreased in OSCC. The immunohistochemical results indicated that the EMP1 protein was also downregulated in OSCC (p=0.031). Decreased expression of EMP1 was significantly correlated with clinical stage (p=0.002) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.044) of patients with OSCC. Meanwhile, there was a significant difference between OSCCs at early and advanced stages (p=0.003), and between OSCCs with lymph node metastasis and no lymph node metastasis (p=0.045), respectively. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that EMP1 may be a tumour suppressor and associated with lymph node metastasis in OSCC.