LIMA1-alpha staining predicts curative intent surgery response in HPV negative head and neck cancer

LIMA1-alpha staining predicts curative intent surgery response in HPV negative head and neck cancer

Abstract In many solid cancer types, surgery alone could be a sufficient first therapy option for a significant number of cancer patients. However, there are currently no diagnostic solutions to identify patients who could be stratified to surgery alone. To identify a biomarker predicting cancer sur...

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Main Authors: Xi Qiao, Johannes Routila, Mari Tienhaara, Heikki Irjala, Priyadharshini Parimelazhagan Santhi, Teemu Huusko, Linda Nissi, Ilkka Paatero, Noora Lehtinen, Juha Rantala, Toni Viljanen, Ilmo Leivo, Petri Koivunen, Anna Jouppila-Mättö, Rami Taulu, Leif Bäck, Tommy Wilkman, Eeva Haapio, Ilpo Kinnunen, Kari Kurppa, Jukka Westermarck, Sami Ventelä
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2025-07-01
Series:EMBO Molecular Medicine
Subjects:
EPLIN
Disease-Specific Survival
Population-validated Tissue Microarray
PV-TMA
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s44321-025-00266-8
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Summary:Abstract In many solid cancer types, surgery alone could be a sufficient first therapy option for a significant number of cancer patients. However, there are currently no diagnostic solutions to identify patients who could be stratified to surgery alone. To identify a biomarker predicting cancer surgery response, candidate biomarkers were studied in a non-metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (nmHNSCC) cohort well representative of the HPV-negative patient population. LIMA1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) with specificity-validated antibodies outperformed all other biomarkers in multivariable survival analyses of patients with nmHNSCC (n = 128, HR 2.10, P = 0.006). The prognostic effect was selective to LIMA1-alpha isoform IHC detection in patients who had received surgical therapy (n = 184, HR 2.39, P > 0.001). Strikingly, our real-world validation results, using two prospectively collected cohorts (n = 15 and n = 86), demonstrate that none of the LIMA1 negative patients died of HNSCC during the follow-up. Collectively, we report here the discovery of a diagnostic LIMA1-alpha IHC assay for HPV-negative HNSCC patient stratification to surgery-only therapy. Application of LIMA1 detection in routine nmHNSCC diagnostics would revolutionize the clinical management of HNSCC patients.
ISSN:1757-4684

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