title: Loss of retinoic acid receptor-beta expression is an early event during esophageal carcinogenesis.
abstract: We recently observed that growth inhibition of esophageal cancer cells by retinoic acid (RA) was associated with both constitutive expression and RA-induced up-regulation of RA receptor beta (RAR-beta). Cell lines that did not express RAR-beta were also resistant to RA. To explore the expression of RAR-beta mRNA in vivo, we analyzed esophageal tissue specimens from 16 normal mucosae, 30 dysplastic lesions, and 157 esophageal tumors by in situ hybridization. RAR-beta was detected in 88% (14/16) of normal esophageal tissues and in 96% (96/100) of distant normal esophageal mucosa from cancer specimens. In contrast, RAR-beta was expressed in only 57% (17/30) of dysplastic lesions and in 54% (84/157) of carcinomas. Among esophageal carcinomas RAR-beta mRNA was expressed in 62% (26/42) of well-differentiated, 54% (27/50) of moderately differentiated, and only 29% (4/14) of poorly differentiated SCCs. Our data suggest that the loss of RAR-beta expression is an early event associated with esophageal carcinogenesis and the status of squamous differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Clinical Cancer Prevention, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: El-Naggar
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lippman
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lotan
authors.forename: X C
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; C082925:retinoic acid receptor beta