Marioni G, Ottaviano G, Lovato A, et al. - In this preliminary inquiry, researchers looked at the likely link between mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) and the nuclear tumor suppressor maspin in laryngeal carcinoma (LSCC). They determined mTOR expression and maspin pattern, also with the help of image analysis involving 79 consecutive LSCCs. Taking into account the entire series, statistical analysis revealed that the distributions by lymph node status (N0 vs N+) differed significantly between two subgroups of patients with and without loco-regional carcinoma recurrences. In pN+ patients, a shorter disease-free survival was displayed by the log-rank test. They found patients with disease recurrence had significantly higher mTOR expression in a subgroup of LSCCs with a non-nuclear maspin pattern. In this setting, the preserved independent prognostic significance of N stage for disease recurrence was revealed in multivariate analysis. In terms of carcinoma recurrence, a trend towards independent significance was demonstrated by mTOR expression. For use in cancer treatments, mTOR inhibitors appear promising.