Clinical implications of Cytokeratin 19 expression in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: This study was done to quantify the prevalence of high cytokeratin (CK) 19 expression in Indonesian oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients and explore the prognostic role of CK19 in OSCC.

Methods: Clinical data and samples from 61 patients diagnosed with OSCC at a tertiary national referral hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia were analyzed in this retrospective cohort study. Immunohistochemical staining of CK19 was performed on all patients and its expression was scored using the H system. All patients were followed up for a minimum of 36 months after diagnosis. Comparative and survival analyses were performed.

Results: Twenty six point two percent of Indonesian OSCC patients had high CK19 expression. There were no differences in clinicopathological characteristics between patients with low and high CK19 expression. The 3-year overall survival (OS) of our cohort was 11.5%. Patients with high CK19 expression had lower 3-year OS compared to patients with low CK19 expression, even if the difference in OS was not statistically significant. Keratinization was an independent prognostic factor for survival in multivariate regression analysis.

Conclusions: Data obtained here indicate a possible prognostic role of CK19 in OSCC. This prognostic role should be confirmed in larger series.