Loss of CRNN expression is associated with advanced tumor stage and poor survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

CRNN gene expression is downregulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), although its clinical implications in esophageal cancer remain unclear. We performed integrated microarray analysis and identified the CRNN gene as 1 of the major downregulated genes in ESCC. CRNN downregulation was validated at the nucleic acid level in 16 ESCC cases using complementary DNA microarray and at the protein level by immunohistochemical stains in an additional 220 ESCC cases. The clinicopathologic relevance and prognostic significance of CRNN expression in ESCC were explored. Downregulated CRNN expression was noted at the messenger RNA and protein levels. Immunohistochemical staining revealed negative and positive CRNN expression in 171 (77.7%) and 49 (22.3%) patients with ESCC, respectively. Patients with negative CRNN protein expression had an advanced tumor invasion depth (P = .002), advanced nodal involvement (P = .014), and longer tumor length (P = .037). Patients with negative CRNN expression (median survival, 14.0 months; 5-year survival rate, 20.5%) had poorer overall survival than those with positive expression (30.0 months and 40.3%, respectively; P = .006). On multivariate analysis, negative CRNN expression, nodal involvement, and distant metastasis remained significant prognostic factors for poor overall survival (negative vs positive CRNN, hazard ratio, 1.464; P = .047). Our analysis has highlighted the clinical implications of CRNN expression in ESCC. Loss of CRNN expression correlated with advanced tumor length, greater tumor invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, and poor survival in patients with ESCC.

Hsu PK ，Kao HL ，Chen HY ，Yen CC ，Wu YC ，Hsu WH ，Chou TY ... -  《-》

Prognostic relevance of Id-1 expression in patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Inhibitor of differentiation or DNA binding 1 (Id-1) is a transcriptional regulator that is associated with enhanced malignant potential and unfavorable survival in many cancers. However, its role and clinical significance in resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been elucidated adequately. The purpose of this study was to explore the pattern of Id-1 expression and analyze its correlation with clinical outcomes of patients with resectable ESCC. Primary tumors from 407 surgically resected ESCC specimens assembled on tissue microarrays were evaluated with immunohistochemical analysis for Id-1. The effect of Id-1 expression on survival outcome was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method. The expression of Id-1 correlated closely with pT category (p<0.001), pathologic staging (p<0.001), and pN category (p<0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of predicting lymph node metastasis by Id-1 expression were 93.3%, 94.7%, and 94.1%, respectively. Disease-specific survival was significantly favorable in patients with low-level Id-1 expression (p<0.001). Overexpression of Id-1 was also effective to predict unfavorable survival in subgroups of patients with poor differentiation (p<0.001) or with advanced T staging (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the level of Id-1 expression was an independent prognostic factor in ESCC (p<0.001; relative risk, 1.578). Expression of Id-1 can be used as a complement for predicting lymph node metastasis in pretreatment workup. High level of Id-1 expression suggested unfavorable prognosis for patients with resectable ESCC.

Luo KJ ，Wen J ，Xie X ，Fu JH ，Luo RZ ，Wu QL ，Hu Y ... -  《-》

[Expression and clinical significance of PI3K in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma].

Zhang Y ，Liu YP ，Du K ，Wang H ，Wang XL ... -  《-》

MiR-142-3p as a potential prognostic biomarker for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs, are always aberrantly expressed in many diseases including human cancers. The aim of this study was to examine and determine the clinical significance of hsa-miR-31, hsa-miR-142-3p, hsa-miR-338-3p, and hsa-miR-1261 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Expression levels of four selected miRNAs, initially evaluated by microarray, were validated by qRT-PCR. Various statistical methods were used to analyze the relationship between miRNA expression and clinicopathologic features and prognosis in 91 patients with ESCC. MiR-31 and miR-142-3p expression were correlated to histological differentiation in ESCC (P < 0.05, Student's t-test); high miR-142-3p expression was associated with a poor prognosis in all 91 ESCC patients (P = 0.014, log-rank) and identified as an independent prognostic factor in ESCC (P = 0.017, univariate Cox; P = 0.022, multivariate Cox). More importantly, stratified analysis indicated that high miR-142-3p expression was correlated to a poor prognosis within good-prognosis groups comprised of ESCC patients with small tumor size, negative lymph node metastasis, or early stage (all P < 0.05). The main findings suggest that miR-142-3p is involved in the progression of ESCC and is a potential prognostic biomarker for ESCC.

Lin RJ ，Xiao DW ，Liao LD ，Chen T ，Xie ZF ，Huang WZ ，Wang WS ，Jiang TF ，Wu BL ，Li EM ，Xu LY ... -  《-》

Reduced stratifin expression can serve as an independent prognostic factor for poor survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Ren HZ ，Pan GQ ，Wang JS ，Wen JF ，Wang KS ，Luo GQ ，Shan XZ ... -  《-》