Background: Although many molecular biologic molecules have been analyzed for their prognostic influence on patients with esophageal cancer, previous studies have not been able to raise statistically significant prognostic factors.
Study design: Immunohistochemical analysis of CyclinD1 expression and E-Cadherin expression was performed retrospectively in 416 esophageal squamous cell cancer patients who underwent curative resection of esophageal cancer at 10 major surgical departments in Japan, where more than 30 esophagectomies are performed in a year. The prognostic impact of these molecules and their relationship to clinicopathologic data of the patients were evaluated.
Results: Univariate analysis revealed that pN (pTNM), pT (pTNM), CyclinD1 expression, and E-Cadherin expression were significant prognostic factors, and multivariate analysis revealed that pN (risk ratio (RR) 2.19), pT (RR 3.35), CyclinD1 (RR 1.42), and E-Cadherin (RR 0.71) were significant prognostic factors. Combination analysis of these genes revealed that E-Cadherin-preserved and CyclinD1-negative patients had the best prognosis; E-Cadherin-reduced and CyclinD1-positive patients had the worst prognosis.
Conclusions: Increased CyclinD1 expression and reduced E-Cadherin expression were significant prognostic factors in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.