Expression of CXC chemokine receptor 4 in Barrett esophagus, esophageal adenocarcinoma and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its clinical significance / 中华消化内镜杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the expressions of CXCR4 in Barrett esophagus (BE), esophageal adenocarcinoma (EADC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and its relationship with pathology, clinical staging and lymph node metastasis. Methods The expressions of CXCR4 in 56 cases of normal esophageal mucosa, 80 BE (including 22 BE with multifocal dysplasia), 25 EADC and 48 ESCC were examined with immunohistochemical method. Results CXCR4 was expressed in most samples of BE (80. 8% ), EADC (68. 0% ) and ESCC (78.4%) without significant difference ( P ＞ 0. 05 ), which was significantly higher than that in normal esophageal mucosa (39. 3%, P ＜0. 01 ). The level of CXCR4 expression in BE, EADC or ESCC were not related with gender, age, or location of the foci ( P ＞ 0. 05). There was no significant difference in CXCR4 expression between BE without dysplasia or BE with multifocal dysplasia ( P ＞ 0. 05 ). CXCR4 expression level in well-differentiated EADC was significantly higher than that of mild or poorly differentiated (P ＜ 0. 05 ). CXCR4 expression level was higher in EADC with lymph node metastasis than those without ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). CXCR4 level in ESCC with TNM staging grades Ⅲ -Ⅳ was higher than that of grades Ⅰ - Ⅱ, and this variable was also higher in cases with lymph node metastasis than those without (P ＜ 0. 05), so was the case of well and poorly differentiated ESCC (P ＜ 0. 01 ). Conclusion Increased expression level of CXCR4 may be a common feature of EADC and ESCC, which is irrelevant to pathological types. CXCR4 level rises at the stage of BE, which is associated with the degree of tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis and TNM staging. CXCR4 expression is of guiding significance in the diagnosis of BE, EADC and ESCC, and is the potential drug target.