Study on the expression of nm23-H1 protein in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of nm23-H1 protein in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods Samples were collected from tissues of 30 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, 22 nasopharyngeal chronic pharyngitis and the expression level of nm23-H1 protein were determined by immunohistochemistry. Results The positive rate of nm23-H1 protein expressed in 30 NPC tissue was 53.30%, lower than that expressed in nasopharyngeal tissue of chronic pharyngitis patients (90.91%) showing significant differences (P0.05). The positive rate of nm23-H1 protein expressed in metastasis NPC tissue was 40.91%, lower than that expressed in non-metastasis NPC (87.50%) also showing significant difference (P0.05); nm23-Hl protein expression in NPC tissues was not closely related to the age, gender of NPC patients. Conclusion The expression of nm23-H1 protein is probably associated with the development and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and can be taken as one of the indicator of prognosis.