Profile of Serum Heat Shock Protein-27 Level in Patients with Salivary Gland Tumor

Statement of the Problem: 

Heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) plays important roles in many cellular processes and has been implicated in different types of diseases such as cancers.

This study aimed to evaluate the serum level of HSP27 in patients with salivary gland tumors and to determine its possible correlation with the prognosis of the disease.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 60 patients with salivary gland tumor including 16 pleomorphic adenoma, 33 adenoid cystic carcinoma, 6 mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 5 acinic cell carcinoma, and 28 healthy control subjects. The control cases were healthy blood donors who matched the study group in age and sex. Serum samples were obtained from the clotted blood and HSP27concentrations were measured with sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Statistical analysis was performed by using one-way ANOVA, post Hoc test, independent sample t-test, and ROC analysis. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant.

The mean serum level of HSP27 was 3956.1±3830.1 (pg/ml) in patients with malignant salivary gland tumor, which was significantly higher than that in benign salivary gland tumor (752.2±485.6) and healthy controls (602.3±575.8) (p< 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the HSP27 serum levels between the patients with benign salivary gland tumors and healthy controls (p= 0.2). No association was detected between the mean serum levels of HSP27 and clinicopathologic factors such as age, sex, stage and nodal metastasis (p> 0.05), except for the tumor size (p= 0.04).

The HSP27 concentration increased in patients with malignant salivary gland tumors. Moreover, the HSP27 level was correlated with tumor growth, invasiveness, and diagnosability. Yet, larger clinical studies are required to explore its prognostic value.