목적: The exact regulatory mechanisms of Carboxyl-Terminal Modulator Protein (CTMP) and its downstream regulators pathway in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are incomplete understood. In our study, we sought to elucidate CTMP expression and its association with Akt serine/threonine kinase which is one of the most important dysregulated signal in HNSCC. 방법:CTMP expression levels were measured on human HNSCC cell lines and tissues of patients. We also analyzed by immunohistochemistry CTMP expression and its associations with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of 119 surgically treated HNSCC cases. In addition, for functional in vitro analysis cell proliferation using WST-1 assay, migration/invasion assay and Western blotting were performed after CTMP overexpression or suppression. 결과:High CTMP expression was significantly associated with positive lymph node metastasis (OR, 3.8, P=0.033) and correlates with poor prognosis of patients with HNSCC. CTMP was positively correlated with Akt phosphorylation in HNSCC cell lines. Furthermore, overexpression of CTMP promoted cell proliferation, invasion and migration ability of each HNSCC cells suggesting enhanced the tumorigenic and metastatic properties of HNSCC cells. 결론:Our findings suggest that CTMP promotes Akt phosphorylation and functions as an oncogenic molecule and prognostic marker in HNSCC.