Prognostic Significance of CDK4 Protein Expression in Patients with Oral Cancer

Objective To examine the expression pattern of CDK4 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its relation to survival. Methods Archival pathological specimens consisted of 48 cases of OSCC. All the cases underwent surgical operation and were classified into 2 groups: twenty-four cases with chemotherapy and 24 cases with surgery alone. Histological specimens for diagnosis obtained from surgical operation underwent immunohistochemical staining for CDK4 protein. Labeling index (LI) was presented by the percentage of positive cells. Results Although CDK4 LI did not significantly correlate with lymph nod metastasis, low CDK4 expression significantly correlated with favorable survival outcome in either the cases with chemotherapy or the cases with surgery alone (P＜0.05; P＜0.005). Conclusion CDK4 expression may have prognostic significance in OSCC.