Lysyl oxidase-like 3 mRNA expression indicates poor survival from oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background/purpose quamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is highly prevalent worldwide. Lysyl oxidase (LOX) is an important enzyme that modulates the extracellular matrix. The LOX superfamily contains LOX and LOX-like (LOXL) enzymes. The aim of the present study was to determine the expressions of LOXL genes in OSCC. als and methods was performed to detect messenger (m)RNA expression of the LOXL genes, LOX-L1, -L3, and -L4, in paired OSCC and non-cancerous matched tissues (NCMTs). s sed mRNA expressions of LOX-L1 and LOX-L3 in OSCC relative to NCMTs were identified in 41% and 65% of OSCC samples, respectively. The normalized mRNA expression of LOXL-3 was 1.11 ± 0.15 in OSCC, which was significantly higher than 0.68 ± 0.12 in NCMTs (P = 0.004). The increased expression of LOX-L3 was associated with worse survival of OSCC patients (P = 0.028). sion sults indicated the frequent increase in LOX-L3 mRNA expression in OSCC, and the value of LOX-L3 mRNA expression might have clinical uses in monitoring OSCC.