Clinical Significance of Integrin Subunit Beta 4 in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

The expression level and clinical significance of integrin subunit beta 4 ( ) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remain unclear. Expression of in HNSCC tissues was evaluated by calculating standard mean differences (SMDs) based on gene chips, RNA-seq, and immunohistochemistry data ( = 2330) from multiple sources. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to detect the ability of to distinguish HNSCC from non-HNSCC samples. The relationship between the expression level of and clinical parameters was evaluated by calculating SMDs. Identical results of mRNA and protein levels indicated remarkable up-expression of in HNSCC tissues. Further ROC curves showed that could distinguish HNSCC from non-HNSCC samples. Genetic alteration analysis of in HNSCC indicated that overexpression of in HNSCC was likely not owing to genetic alteration of . Moreover, overexpression level may be correlated with clinical T stage. likely plays an essential role in HNSCC occurrence based on our study and its potential diagnostic value is worthy of further exploration in the future.