Salivary Heparanase Level Is a Potential Biomarker to Diagnose and Prognose the Malignant Salivary Gland Tumor.

Upregulation of heparanase has been reported in an increasing number of human cancer tissues. However, the level of salivary heparanase and its clinical significance in patients with salivary gland tumors remain unclear.Salivary heparanase levels in patients with salivary gland tumors were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and the clinical significance was evaluated by analyzing the correlations among salivary heparanase levels, clinicopathological parameters, and clinical outcomes.The levels of salivary heparanase were significantly higher in patients with malignant salivary gland tumors than in benign tumors and normal controls (P<0.0001). High salivary heparanase levels were positively correlated with increased lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0235) and poorer tumor node metastasis stage (TNM) (P = 0.0183). Survival analyses revealed that high salivary heparanase levels were associated with worse overall survival (P = 0.0023) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.0025).The study shows that salivary heparanase levels, as detected by the ELISAs, can be used to diagnose and provide an accurate prognosis for malignant salivary gland tumors. Salivary heparanase level was an independent predictor in patients with malignant salivary gland tumors

Correlations between salivary heparanase levels and clinical outcomes in patients with malignant salivary gland tumors.

<p>Kaplan-Meier survival curves show the (A) overall survival, and (B) disease-specific survival of patients with malignant salivary gland tumors relative to salivary heparanase levels is correlated.</p

Univariate and Multivariate Cox Proportional Hazards Regression Models for Estimating Overall Survival.

<p>Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; pN, pathological lymph node status; TNM, tumor-lymph node-metastasis</p><p>Univariate and Multivariate Cox Proportional Hazards Regression Models for Estimating Overall Survival.</p

Heparanase levels in saliva and tumor tissue specimens were investigated with immunohistochemical staining and an ELISAs.

<p>(A) Representative images show heparanase-negative and heparanase-positive immunohistochemical staining in benign and malignant salivary gland tumors. (B) Heparanase levels in 59 benign salivary gland tumor tissues and 67 malignant tumor tissues were evaluated with immunohistochemical staining. (C) Salivary heparanase levels of 59 patients with benign salivary gland tumors, 67 patients with malignant tumors, and 25 healthy donors (normal controls) were determined using ELISAs. (D) The consistency of heparanase levels in saliva and tumor tissues from 126 patients with salivary gland tumors (59 patients with benign tumors and 67 patients with malignant tumors) were evaluated using Pearson’s correlation analysis.</p

Correlations between salivary heparanase levels and clinicopathological parameters in patients with malignant salivary gland tumors.

<p>The associations between salivary heparanase levels and clinicopathological parameters—age, gender, smoking history, alcohol history, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, disease site, and tumor type—were analyzed in patients with malignant salivary gland tumors.</p