Abstract: Objective To investigate the expressions of osteopontin (OPN) and integrin αv (ITGA V) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC),and to study their influences on the biological behaviors of tumor cells such as invasion and metastasis.Methods The expressions of OPN and ITGA V were detected on 88 cases of NPC tissue and 18 cases of nasopharyngeal inflammation tissue,by immunohistochemistry method.The parameters such as sex,clinical stage,lymphatic metastasis and distant metastasis were compared and analyzed.Results The positive expression rates of OPN and ITGA V in NPC tissue were 53.4% (47/88) and 59.1% (52/88) respectively,which were higher obviously than that in the nasopharyngeal inflammation tissue (P<0.01).The expressions of OPN and ITGA V in carcinoma tissue were related to clinical pathological stage,lymphatic metastasis and distant metastasis (P<0.05),but not related to sex (P>0.05).The expression of OPN was positively correlated with that of ITGA V in NPC tissue (r=0.335,P<0.01).Conclusion OPN and ITGA V may play a synergic role in the process of invasion and metastasis of NPC.The expression of OPN and ITGA V might reflect the biological characteristics of NPC,and could be applied as important indicators for evaluating the prognosis of NPC.

Key words: Nasopharyngeal neoplasm, Osteopontin, Integrin αv, Immunohistochemistry, Invasion and metastasis