The Expression And Clinical Significance Of FOXQ1 And E-cadherin In Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective By using immunohistochemical method, this research detects the expression of fork-head box Q1(FOXQ1) and epitheia-cadherin(E-cadherin) in the two tissue samples of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The former is the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues; the latter is the normal esophageal squamous epithelium fork frame ones. Basing on the research results, it aims to analyze and discuss FOXQ1 and E cadherin expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and their pathologic and clinical significance.Methods 42 resected ESCC specimens and 42 adjacent normal esophageal are selected from Tianjin Chest Hospital from January of 2007 to June of 2009. All the samples are fixed in 10% formalin and embedded in paraffin. The method of immunohistochemistry is used to investigate the expression of FOXQ1 and E-cadherin. The following aspects are analyzed: differences of the expression of FOXQ1 and E-cadherin in ESCC tissues and normal esophageal ones; correlations between the expression of FOXQ1, E-cadherin and the clinical pathological parameters and prognosis of the patients; the relation between the expression of FOXQ1 and E-cadherin and the prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Results(1) FOXQ1 and E-cadherin are expressed in both ESCC tissues and normal esophageal ones. But FOXQ1 is mainly expressed in the cytoplasm, and the expression level of it is distinctly higher in ESCC than in the control group(64.29%vs28.57%). This difference is statistically significant(c2=5.384, P <0.05).E-cadherin is mainly expressed in the cytomembrane, and the expression level of it is distinctly lower in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues than in the control group(52.38%vs90.48%). And the difference is statistically significant(c2=7.691,P<0.05).(2) Univariate analysis of variance finds that the expression of FOXQ1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues is correlated significantly with TNM stage and lymph node metastasis(P<0.05). However the expression of E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is correlated significantly with the depth of invasion, differentiation, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis(P <0.05).(3) Spearman’s rank correlation finds that the expression of FOXQ1 and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma are in negative relation( r =-0.412,P<0.05).(4) Among patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, those with the high FOXQ1 gene expression have a much lower 5-year survival rate than whose with the lower expression of FOXQ1(18.52%vs66.67%), revealing a statistically significant difference(c2=9.737, P<0.05). However, patients with the high E-cadherin gene expression have a much higher 5-year survival rate than those with the lower expression( 59.09%vs10.00%), which is statistically significant(c2=10.996,P<0.05).(5) The analysis with the multi-factors COX proportional hazards regression model shows that high FOXQ1 expression, low E-cadherin expression and lymph node metastasis are independent risk factors that affect the prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, while factors like tumor site, tumor differentiation, tumor invasion depth, age and gender have no significant correlation with the prognosis of the patients.Conclusion The results reveal that the expression of FOXQ1 and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is closely correlated, affecting the study of pathology and prognosis of the patients. A joint detection of the expression of both FOXQ1 and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue not only sheds new light on the diagnosis and cure of the patients, but also exerts positive influence on the prognosis of the patients.