Expression And Clinical Significance Of Protein P16, Fas And Fasl In Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective To determine and analyze the expression of p16 protein , Fas protein and FasL protein in tissues of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and to probe its relation to the carcinogenesis , development and prognosis of esophageal squamous cell cancer.Methods 50 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma confirmed by surgery and pathology were studied with the method of immunohistochemical analysis to determine the protein expression of p16 , Fas and FasL in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue , and the data was analyzed with Chi square test or exact method .Results The positive rate of p16 protein was 52.0 % (26/50), Fas protein and FasL protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue was 52.0 % (26/50) , 26.0%( 13/50) , 68.0%(34/50) respectively . Their expressions had relations with different pathological grades , The expression levels of p16 protein and Fas protein decreased , while that of FasL protein increased when the degree of differentiation was decreased (P<0.05). No correlation was found between p16 protein , Fas protein and FasL protein expression and pathologic types (P>0.05) . There are no relations between p16 protein and Fas protein expression and infiltrating degrees (P>0.05) . With the infiltrating of esophageal carcinoma , the expression of FasL protein increased . The expression of p16 protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma without lymph node metastasis was markedly higher than that with lymph node metastasis at positive rate (P<0.05) . The expression of FasL protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma without lymph node metastasis was markedly lower than that with lymph node metastasis at positive rate (P<0.05) . The expression of Fas protein had no relation with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The expression of p16 protein had a negative relation with clinical stage (P<0.05) . The expression of Fas protein had no relation with clinical stage (P>0.05). The expression of FasL protein had a positive relation with clinical stage (P<0.05). The expression of p16 protein of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma from patients who had had over 3 years survival time was higher than that of patients who had had survival time less than 3 years (P<0.05) , and the expression of Fas or FasL had no relation with survivaltime (P>0.05).Conclusion The results indicate that the expression of p16 , Fas and FasL had relations with some biological behaviors of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma . p16 protein , Fas protein and FasL protein seem to be useful tumor markers and they can be used to evaluate the tumor biological behaviors, sensitivity to the treatment and prognosis of the disease . Making use of the mechanisms they conduct in tumors will be helpful in finding a new way to treat tumors .