ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of Transformer 2β (Tra2β) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).MethodsSixty-four samples of OSCC were subjected to immunohistochemistry to analyze the expression of Tra2β protein in OSCC and to explore the relationship between the expression of Tra2β protein and different clinical pathological parameters. Twenty-two pairs of fresh OSCC tissues and adjacent tissues were used to explore the expression of Tra2β mRNA and protein through real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analyses. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate and validate the effect of Tra2β protein on the survival rate of patients with OSCC. Cox multivariate regression was used to analyze the effect of Tra2β protein on the prognosis of patients with OSCC.ResultsImmunohistochemistry results revealed that Tra2β protein was expressed in OSCC, and the positive expression of Tra2β protein was significantly associated with the differentiation degree and clinical stage of OSCC. Moreover, the expression trends of Tra2β protein and mRNA were consistent, and the expression levels of Tra2β protein and mRNA in OSCC tissues were higher than those in adjacent tissues. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with OSCC and Tra2β protein expression had poor prognoses. Cox multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that the Tra2β protein was an independent prognostic factor of OSCC.ConclusionTra2β may be a new molecular target for the treatment of OSCC.
