Expression levels of Ki-67 and cyclin D1 in advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its prognosis

Introduction and Aim: Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) prognosis has been associated with cyclin D1 and Ki-67. These tumor markers had never been tested in NPC patients in Indonesia before. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the relationships between Ki-67 and cyclin D1 expression levels and the clinicopathological features of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients. Materials and Methods: During the years 2015 until 2018, thirty-one nasopharyngeal cancer patients were studied in a cohort study at RSUPN Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo. Patients aged 18 years, diagnosed with NPC according to the histopathological results, metastasis NPC, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group 0–1, and those who had completed first-line chemotherapy treatment with 5–fluorouracil were included in this study. The Ki-67 and cyclin D1 expression levels were evaluated with the h-score. The NLR values were collected prior to the treatment. The 2-year survival rate was analyzed based on the optimal cut-off value obtained. The optimal cut-off values of Ki-67 and cyclin D1 were categorized into high- and low-expression groups to observe the 2-year mortality. Results: The relationships between Ki-67 and cyclin D1, clinical, pathological, and prognosis of patients were examined. Patients with Ki-67 high expression had a worse 2-year survival rate than those with low expression (p0.05). Ki-67 expression was found to be significantly related to adverse outcomes (p0.05, OR: 41.107, 95% CI: 2.600–649.940), while the cyclin D1 expression was not significantly related to adverse outcomes (p0.05). Conclusion: Ki-67 expression was associated with poor prognosis in NPC patients. Nevertheless, further research is required to explore the specific mechanism of cyclin D1 expression in NPC prognosis.