Expression of cytokeratin(CK)7, CK8/18, CK19 and p40 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and their correlation with prognosis / 中华病理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To evaluate the expression of cytokeratin (CK)7, CK8/18, CK19 and p40 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and its significances. @*Methods@#One hundred and ninety cases of surgically resected ESCCs and 154 normal esophageal tissues as control were collected at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in 2012.Of the 190 ESCC cases including 116 male and 74 female, aged 28-82 (60.3±8.6) years, 88 cases <60 years old and 102 cases ≥60 years old. Tissue sections were immunostained for CK7, CK8/18, CK19 and p40, and the expression was evaluated and correlated with the clinicopathologic findings and outcome. @*Results@#CK19 and p40 were expressed in 190 cases of ESCCs; with 147 cases (77.4%) and 151 cases (79.5%) showing high p40 and CK19 expression, respectively; while 43 cases (22.6%) and 39 cases (20.5%) showed low p40 and CK19 expression, respectively. The low expression groups showed more lymph node metastases and higher pTNM stages compared to the high expression groups. The high CK19 expression group showed better prognosis than the low expression group (P<0.01); p40 expression was not correlated with prognosis(P>0.05). In contrast, CK7 and CK8/18 expression was only seen in 29 cases (15.3%) and 59 cases (31.1%) of ESCCs, respectively, and their expression correlated significantly with the degree of tumor differentiation and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The prognosis in the CK7 negative group was better than that in the CK7 positive group. Similar results were found in CK8/18 expression. Multivariate analysis revealed that pTNM stages, low CK19 expression and CK8/18 expression were independent prognostic factors. @*Conclusions@#Low p40 expression and the expression of CK7 and CK8/18 cannot exclude poorly-differentiated ESCCs.CK7 and CK8/18 expression and low CK19 and p40 expression in the ESCCs are associated with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis. Decreased expression of CK19 and positive expression of CK8/18 in ESCCs are independent prognostic markers.