Objective Expression of proto-oncogene protein C-FOS and matrix metalloproteinase-11 (MMP-11) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) tissues and their correlation with patient prognosis;

Methods A total of 98 LSCC patients were selected, and samples were collected from tumor tissues (LSCC group) and adjacent cancer tissues (para-carcinoma group). Additionally, 30 cases of normal mucosa tissues were selected as controls (control group). The expression of C-FOS and MMP-11 was compared among the three groups, and the correlation between positive expression of C-FOS and MMP-11 with LSCC clinical characteristics and their predictive value for LSCC recurrence was analyzed.

Results Statistically significant differences were observed in the positive expression rates of C-FOS and MMP-11 among the LSCC group, para-carcinoma group, and control group (P ＜ 0.01). The positive expression rates of C-FOS and MMP-11 showed statistically significant differences among LSCC patients with different TNM stages, histological grades, and lymph node metastasis status (P ＜ 0.05 to P ＜ 0.01). After 12 months of follow-up, there was a statistically significant difference in the positive expression rate of MMP-11 between the recurrence group and non-recurrence group of LSCC patients (P ＜ 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC values for predicting LSCC recurrence were 0.631, 0.613, and 0.656 for C-FOS, MMP-11, and their combination, respectively.

Conclusion The positive expression rates of C-FOS and MMP-11 are elevated in LSCC patients and are correlated with TNM stage, differentiation degree, and lymph node metastasis. C-FOS and MMP-11 have certain predictive value for recurrence in LSCC patients.