ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of sphingosine kinase 1 (SPK1) and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) in osteosarcoma and their clinical significance.

MethodsSeventy-three patients with osteosarcoma who underwent surgical treatment were selected as observation objects, and thirty-one cases of osteochondroma specimens surgically resected during the same period were selected as controls.The expression levels of SPK1 and S1P proteins in osteosarcoma tissue and chondroma tissue were detected with immunohistochemical method, the relationship between the expression levels of SPK1 and S1P and the clinicopathological characteristics of osteosarcoma was analyzed, the relationship between the expression of SPK1 and S1P and the survival rate of patients with osteosarcoma was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier survival curve.

ResultsThe positive expression rate of SPK1 in osteosarcoma tissue was 68.49%, which was significantly higher than 16.13% in chondroma tissue (P < 0.01).The positive expression rate of S1P in osteosarcoma tissue was 58.90%, which was significantly higher than 22.58% in chondroma tissue (P < 0.01).The positive expression rates of SPK1 and S1P were higher in patients with Eneeking stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ and lung metastasis (P < 0.05 to P < 0.01).There was no significant difference in the positive expression rate of SPK1 or S1P between the different sex, age, tumor diameter, disease location or pathological type of patients (P>0.05).The 3-year survival rate of SPK1 positive expression group was significantly lower than that of SPK1 negative expression group (38.50% vs 74.17%, χ²=5.63, P < 0.05).The 3-year survival rate of S1P positive expression group was significantly lower than that of S1P negative expression group (34.06% vs 77.44%, χ²=8.95, P < 0.05).

ConclusionsSPK1 and S1P proteins are highly expressed in osteosarcoma tissues, they are related to the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma, and may serve as potential prognostic markers for patients with osteosarcoma.