Expression of ALG2 in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its prognostic diagnostic value

[Objective:] To analyze the expression of apoptosis-linked gene-2 (ALG2) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues and cell lines and its correlations with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients. [Methods:] The expression of ALG2 in 5 pairs of fresh OSCC tissues, paracancerous normal tissues, OSCC cell lines and human oral keratinocytes (HOK) were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The expression levels of ALG2 in paraffin-embedded OSCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues specimens of 128 patients with OSCC were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The correlation of ALG2 expression in OSCC tissues with the clinicopathological features and survival time of patients were analyzed. The expression of ALG2 in OSCC tissues and its diagnostic, prognostic value were detected in TCGA database. [Results:] The expression of ALG2 in OSCC tissues and cell lines was significantly higher than those in paracancerous tissues and HOK cells (P<0.05). The overall survival, disease free survival and progression-free survival of OSCC patients in the group with low ALG2 expression were significantly higher than those in the ALG2 high expression group (P<0.05). T stage, lymphatic metastasis, and ALG2 expression were all factors affecting the prognosis of OSCC patients (P<0.05). ALG2 expression was an independent predictor of the prognosis of OSCC patients (P<0.01). ALG2 may have some diagnostic value for OSCC [area under the curve (AUC)=0.807]. [Conclusion:] ALG2 is highly expressed in OSCC and it is associated with unfavorable prognosis of the patients, and it may have some diagnostic value for OSCC.