Prognostic factors in mucoepidermoid carsinomas of the head and neck

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the demographic characteristics of patients with head and neck mucoepidermoid carcinomas and the effect of mutant p53, mdm-2, survivin expression survival and disease-free survival.Materials and Methods: In this study, 39 patients with diagnosis of mucoepidermoid carsinoma between 2002 and 2010, in Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, were included. The demographic characteristics of the patients and mutant p53, mdm-2 and survivin expression by immunohistochemical method were investigated and also the effect of these parameters on survival and disease-free survival was investigated. In addition to these parameters, mutant p53, mdm-2 and survivin expressions in 39 patient operated with the diagnosis of pleomorphic adenoma in Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology were evaluated. Mutant p53, mdm-2 and expression of survivin were compared between the mucoepidermoid carsinomas and pleomorphic adenomas. In addition, mutant p53, mdm-2, and coexpression of survivin as well as correlation of these parameters with each other were investigated.Results: The mean age of 39 patients were 47,8 (range 8 to78), and the mean follow up duration was 60.3 months (range 24 to 122 months). The most common localization was parotid gland (56,4%). T and N stage, tumor localization, histologic stage, perineural invasion, and development of metastasis were found to be effective on survival and disease-free survival. It was also observed that positive surgical margin, recurrence, and also age are effective on survival. It was observed that the expression of mutant p53 was associated with histologic grade, mortality rate and survival. While the expression of survivin was associated with histologic grade, the prognostic effect of mdm-2 expression was not observed. The expression of mutant p53 was less in pleomorphic adenomas than those in MEC whereas the expression of survivin was more in pleomorphic adenomas than those in MEC and there were no significant difference in mdm-2 expression. Although there was a significant correlation between mutant p53 and survivin coexpression; the same relationship was not observed between mutant p53 and mdm-2, survivin and mdm-2, respectively.Conclusion: It was observed that; age, T and N stage, histologic grade, positive surgical margins, perineural invasion, recurrence, development of metastasis, localisation of the tumor, mutant p53 and expression of survivin were effective on prognosis of mucoepidermoid carsinomas.Key Words: mucoepidermoid carsinoma, prognosis, p53, mdm-2, survivin.