Clinical significance of stanniocalcin-1 detected in peripheral blood and bone marrow of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients

Haizhu Song,Jun Yi,Biao Xu

doi:10.1186/1756-9966-31-35

Abstract

BackgroundStanniocalcin-1 (STC-1) is a potential marker of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs). The aim of this study was to examine STC-1 expression in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients, and to evaluate its clinical significance.MethodsA total of 85 ESCC patients treated with radical resection were enrolled in this study. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect STC-1 protein expression in ESCC tissues. Nested RT-PCR was used to detect STC-1 mRNA expression in PB and BM.ResultsThere were 71 cases (83.5%) showed a higher level of STC-1 protein expression in tumor tissues than in adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the frequencies of STC-1 mRNA expression detected in PB and BM were 37.6% (32/85) and 21.2% (18/85), respectively, and together increased sensitivity to 48.2% (41/85), which was much higher than that in patients with benign esophageal disease (5.0%, 2/40, P < 0.001). In addition, STC-1 mRNA expression either in PB or BM was correlated with lymph metastasis, advanced stage and adverse 2-year progression free survival (PFS). In a multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazard model, STC-1 expression in PB and/or BM was an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for ESCC, apart from lymph metastasis and clinical stage.ConclusionsSTC-1 mRNA expression is a reliable marker for detection of DTCs in PB and BM of ESCC patients, and STC-1-positive DTCs may be a promising tool for diagnosis and prognosis assessment in ESCC.

Highlights

Stanniocalcin-1 (STC-1) is a potential marker of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs)
We determined the STC-1 mRNA expression using nested RTPCR in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients treated with radical resection, and their associations with clinicopathological features and 2 year progression-free survival (PFS) were further eval
Association between STC-1 mRNA expression and clinicopathological features As shown in Table 4, STC-1 mRNA expression in PB and BM of ESCC patients were both associated with lymph metastasis and clinical stage

Summary

Introduction

Stanniocalcin-1 (STC-1) is a potential marker of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs). The aim of this study was to examine STC-1 expression in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients, and to evaluate its clinical significance. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) comprises the majority of esophageal cancer in China and it is characterized by a high incidence and mortality rate [1]. Even though this disease is surgically curable in the early stages, patients often suffer asymptomatic metastasis that is associated with a high mortality [2]. Cancer cells from the original region may disseminate into the peripheral blood (PB) or bone marrow (BM) in the early stage and survive without clinical representation as micrometastasis, an important initial step for recurrence and distant metastases [3,4]. We determined the STC-1 mRNA expression using nested RTPCR in PB and BM from ESCC patients treated with radical resection, and their associations with clinicopathological features and 2 year progression-free survival (PFS) were further eval

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion