Relationship between the transcriptional expression of PIM1 and local control in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas treated with radiotherapy

Results During the follow-up, 48 patients (35.6%) had a local recurrence of the tumor. Patients with local recurrence had a higher level of PIM-1 expression than those who achieved local control of the disease (P=0.017). Five-year local recurrencefree survival for patients with a high expression of PIM-1 (n=43) was 44.6% (95% CI 29.2-60.0%), and for patients with low expression (n=92) it was 71.9% (95% CI 62.5-81.3%) (P=0.007). According to the results of multivariate analysis, patients with a high PIM-1 expression had a 2.2-fold increased risk of local recurrence (95% CI 1.22-4.10, P=0.009). Conclusion Patients with elevated transcriptional expression levels of PIM-1 had a signifcantly higher risk of local recurrence after radiotherapy.