PKCalpha promotes local advancement via its dual roles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

CONCLUSION: In patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), PKCalpha is linked to local advancement and plays dual roles in tumorigenesis. Moreover, positive PKCalpha is associated with 2-year overall survival of NPC. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to investigate the role of PKCalpha to identify different sub-types in NPC. METHODS: PKCalpha expression levels were detected in a collection of NPC samples. CT and MRI scans of the corresponding patients were used to assess adjacent tissue invasion and lymph node metastasis. The correlation of tumour invasion and PKCalpha levels was evaluated by statistical analysis. The correlation between expression level of PKCalpha and 2-year overall survival was analysed by the Kaplan-Meier curves. Moreover, a multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to identify the independent prognostic factors for NPC. RESULTS: PKCalpha is linked to the invasion of adjacent tissues, especially in the skull base. However, down-regulation of PKCalpha is a risk factor for regional lymph node metastasis. The 2-year overall survival of the PKCalpha negative group is better than that of the PKCalpha positive group (PKCalpha negative group 100%, PKCalpha positive group 88.5%, p = 0.034). Based on the multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, age was identified as a risk factor.