Fig. 2

High expression of IGF2BP2 is correlated with clinicopathological variables and an unfavorable prognosis in HNSCC. A-C The analysis of TCGA-HNSCC (A), GSE30784 (B), and GSE42743 (C) datasets revealed an upregulation of IGF2BP2 mRNA expression in HNSCC. D and E Poor OS in patients with high IGF2BP2 mRNA expression in the TCGA-HSCCC (D) and GSE42743 (E) datasets. F Representative IHC staining images for IGF2BP2 in HNSCC tissue array. Scale bar of ANCT, 600 μm. Scale bar of HNSCC, 800 μm. G Histological scoring of IGF2BP2 in 94 HNSCC tissues and 14 ANCTs in HNSCC tissue arrays. H–K Histological scoring of IGF2BP2 in 94 HNSCC tissues with patients' T-stage (H), clinical stage (I), CLN metastasis (J), and pathological grade (K). L Representative IHC staining images for IGF2BP2 in HNSCC tissues. Scale bar of the upper panel, 500 μm. Scale bar of the lower panel, 250 μm. M Histological scoring of IGF2BP2 in 109 HNSCC tissues and 33 ANCTs. N Histological scoring of IGF2BP2 in 33 HNSCC tissue and their paired ANCTs. O-R Histological scoring of IGF2BP2 in 109 HNSCC tissues with patients' T-stage (O), clinical stage (P), cervical lymph node metastasis (Q), and pathological grade (R). S and T Kaplan–Meier survival curves of 5-year overall survival (R) and 5-year disease-free survival (T) based on patients with HNSCC with high- and low-expression IGF2BP2. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. All the data are presented as mean ± SD from three independently performed experiments