Fascin1 expression predicts poor prognosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and correlates with tumor invasion.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate prognostic significance of fascin1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and evaluate the association of fascin1 with tumor invasion. MATERIALS AND METHODS Immunohistochemical staining for fascin1 was carried out on paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 161 patients with NPC. Data were subjected to statistical analysis with respect to clinicopathological variables and survival. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) approach was used to knockdown fascin1 expression in NPC cells to determine whether fascin1 contributes to tumor cell invasion. RESULTS Immunohistochemical analysis showed that fascin1 was highly expressed in 95 (59.0%) of 161 paraffin-embedded NPC tissues. Fascin1 expression was significantly correlated with clinical stage (P < 0.001) and N classification (P < 0.001). Statistical analysis showed that fascin1 expression was inversely correlated with both overall and disease-free survival of NPC patients. Multivariate analysis showed that fascin1 expression was an independent prognostic indicator for patient's survival. Moreover, disruption of endogenous fascin1 expression in NPC cells using siRNA technique suppressed NPC cell invasiveness and decreased cell filopodia and lamellopodia. CONCLUSION The present study indicates that fascin1 expression is inversely correlated with NPC patient survival and directly correlated with the malignant status of NPC.