title: Stathmin overexpression identifies high risk for lymphatic metastatic recurrence in pN0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Common patterns of the operative failure after Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients are locoregional lymph node metastasis. It is clinically significant to investigate the biological markers to predict the subset of patients who are at higher risk of lymphatic metastatic recurrence. Our research aimed to investigate the association between the Stathmin (STMN-1) gene expression and lymphatic metastatic recurrence in pN0 ESCC patients after surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred seventy-four patients who suffered from mid-thoracic ESCC and completely resected with Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy were enrolled in our study. The entire patients were restricted to pN0 ESCC. Tissue specimens were examined for STMN-1 expression levels by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting methods. The correlation of STMN-1 levels with clinicopathological variables, prognosis, and metastatic potential was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred patients had STMN-1 protein overexpression (57.47%), and the patients with overexpression were accompanied by significantly higher rate of lymphatic metastatic recurrence as compared with patients who had low STMN-1 expression (P = 0.003). Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that the STMN-1 protein expression and T classification were independent factors to predict the lymphatic metastatic recurrence (P = 0.007, P = 0.000, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even pN0 ESCC are a potential to lymphatic metastatic recurrence. Stathmin overexpression can be used as a marker to identify those patients who are at high risk for lymphatic metastatic recurrence in pN0 ESCC after an Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Javed
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wen Peng
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Ming Ming
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Zhi Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016629:Esophagectomy; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012306:Risk; D050777:Stathmin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C493995:STMN1 protein, human; D050777:Stathmin
keywords: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; lymphatic metastatic recurrence; stathmin-1