A panel of overexpressed proteins for prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

[esophageal squamous cell carcinoma]

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC ) is a common cancer with poor prognosis . In order to identify useful biomarkers for accurately classifying prognostic risks for ESCC patients , we examined the expression of six proteins by immunohistochemistry (IHC ) in 590 paraffin-embedded ESCC samples . The candidate proteins include p 53 , EGFR , c-KIT , TIMP 1 and PI 3 K -p 110 α reported to be altered in ESCC tissues as well as another important component of PI 3 K , PI 3 K -p 85 α . Of the six proteins tested , p 53 , EGFR , c-KIT , TIMP 1 and PI 3 K -p 85 α were detected with high expression in 43 .0 %, 36 .6 %, 55 .9 %, 70 .7 % and 57 .1 % of tumors , respectively . Significant associations were found between high expression of PI 3 K -p 85 α , EGFR and p 53 and poor prognosis (P = 0 .00111 ; 0 .00001 ; 0 .00426 ). Applying these three proteins as an IHC panel could divide patients into different subgroups (P <0 .000001 ). Multivariate cox regression analysis indicated that the three -protein panel was an independent prognostic factor with very high statistical significance (HR = 2 .090 , 95 % CI : 1 .621 -2 .696 , P = 0 .00000001 ). The data suggest that the three -protein panel of PI 3 K -p 85 α , EGFR and p 53 is an important candidate biomarker for the prognosis of patients with ESCC .