Ngal/ngalr Expression Pattern And Clinical Significance In Esophageal Development And Canceration

Background and Objective: Previous study of our group showed that NGAL was overexpression in ESCC and closely related with invasive characteristics of malignant behavior in tumor cells. Recently, NGAL receptor (NGALR) was identified from the ESCC cells, and we found that NGALR was also overexpression in ESCC as well as NGAL. However, the relationship between expression of NGAL and NGALR with esophagus development and patients prognosis with ESCC, it is not clear. The purpose of this study is to reveal the expression pattern and clinical significance of NGAL/NGALR in esophageal development and carcinomatous change.Materials and Method: Tissue microarray technology was used to perform immunohistochemical experiments on expression of NGAL and NGALR in 61 cases human embryos esophagus tissue and fetuses at 2–9 monthes of gestation, 30 cases normal adult esophagus tissue, and 613 adult ESCC specimens. Pearson Chi-Square (chi-square) test, Kaplan-Meier survival univariate and multivariate COX survival were used to analysis and evaluate the the experimental data.Result: Negative to weak positive immunostaining for NGAL could be observed in a cytoplasmic pattern through total stage of the esophagus development and normal adult esophagus tissue, however, high positive positioning of NGAL were found in cell cytoplasmic in human esophageal carcinoma. High positive staining was obversed of NGALR in human esophagus development and esophagus canceration, weak expression of NGALR only in adult normal esophagus tissue. Chi-square test results showed that: NGAL expression related with cell differentiation degree (P=0.04), NGALR expression related with the clinical stage (P=0.005), NGAL / NGALR co-expression related with cell differentiation degree (P=0.033). Univariate analysis using the Kaplan–Meier method indicated the expression of NGAL and NGALR related with survival rate of ESCC patients, that is, high expression of NGAL or NGALR of patients, poor prognosis, short survival time, on the contrary, NGAL or NGALR in patients with low expression and prognosis is relatively good, relatively long survival time. ESCC specimens with both low NGAL expression and low NGALR expression were associated with increased survival compared with other subgroups.Conclusion: NGAL and NGALR are involved in the transformation and progression of ESCC, and NGAL and NGALR were both considered as independent effects of prognostic factors of ESCC, while NGALR may be a protein of carcinoembryonic antigen characteristics.