CD73 as a novel marker for poor prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Ecto-5'-nucleotidase [cluster of differentiation (CD) 73] has important functions in several types of cancer, however, its expression in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remains unknown. The present study was designed to investigate CD73 expression in SCC. CD73 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in 113 patients with oral SCC (OSCC). The association between CD73 expression and clinicopathological features, overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) times of patients were statistically analyzed. CD73 expression was detected in 58.4% (66/113) of OSCC patients, with the immunostaining predominantly localized in the cytomembrane and a little in the cytoplasm. Statistical analysis revealed that CD73 expression was more frequently detected in patients with larger tumors (P=0.021). The overexpression of CD73 was significantly associated with clinical stage (P=0.047). Furthermore, immunohistochemical staining showed that overexpression of CD73 was inversely correlated with DFS (P=0.002) and OS (P=0.002) times. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that CD73 expression was an independent prognostic factor for poor DFS (P=0.018) and OS (P=0.021). The current study is the first to evaluate the clinical significance and prognostic value of CD73 in patients with OSCC. The findings suggest that CD73 is a potential prognostic marker for OSCC.