Clinical significance of LN/LN-R expression in nasal and paranasal sinus malignant tumor

AIM: To study the clinical significance of laminin/laminin receptor(LN/LN-R) expression in nasal and paranasal sinus malignant tumor(NPMT).METHODS: The immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of LN and LN-R in 137 cases of NPMT, 78 cases of para-cancer tissues and 37 cases of non-cancer tissues.RESULTS: The positive rate of LN in NPMT(13.87%) was significantly lower than that in para-cancer tissues(87.18%) and non-cancer tissues(72.97%), and the positive rate of LN-R in nasal inverting papilloma(76.47%) was significantly higher than that in NPMT(28.47%), para-cancer tissues(10.26%) and nasal polypus and cyst tissues(10.0%). A significant difference of LN-R expression, but not LN, between endepidermis and soft tissue of the NPMT was observed(P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Decrease in LN expression provides the essential condition for the invasion and metastasis of the malignant tumor. Determining the expression level of LN in NMPT will be helpful for evaluation of tumor development and clinical management. High expression of LN-R only in the nasal inverting papilloma indicates that LN-R may play different roles in different pathotypes of NPMT.