Abstract 1788: Targeting ornithine decarboxylase down-regulates multiple pathways involved in precancerous lesion formation of esophageal squamous cell cancer

Abstract

Abstract Precancerous lesion of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) owns the characteristic of bidirectional instability, which can develop to cancer or reverse to normal epithelium by appropriate interference. Therefore, the feature of precancerous lesion provides possibility for ESCC chemoprevention. In the current study, we found that ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) protein level is higher in esophageal precancerous lesions compared with normal esophageal epithelium. Knocking down ODC suppresses cell proliferation and clone formation of ESCC. Moreover, difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an irreversible inhibitor of ODC, decreases N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA)-induced rats’ esophageal precancerous lesions. Further molecular study indicated that ODC down-regulates p38, ERK in the MAP kinase pathway and AKT/mTOR/p70S6K pathway, which are involved in the carcinogenesis process. Overall, our results indicate that ODC may be a potential target for ESCC chemoprevention. Citation Format: Yifei Xie, Qiong Wu, Jimin Zhao, Kangdong Liu. Targeting ornithine decarboxylase down-regulates multiple pathways involved in precancerous lesion formation of esophageal squamous cell cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1788.