title: High sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) expression correlates with absence of nodal metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: Sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is a transcription factor involved in self-renewal and pluripotency. Dysregulation of SOX2 expression has been found in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), including esophageal SCC. Recently, high SOX2 expression was found to be a negative predictor of occult lymph node metastasis in early oral SCC, but the clinical significance of SOX2 expression in esophageal SCC remains controversial. Here we investigated SOX2 expression by immunohistochemistry in 75 cases of surgically resected esophageal SCC. Similar to oral SCC, we found for the first time that high SOX2 expression correlates with absence of clinical nodal metastasis (P = 0.011). Podoplanin is a glycoprotein which is variably expressed by esophageal SCC. Since we previously found that podoplanin expression correlates with nodal metastasis in esophageal SCC, we also assessed podoplanin expression in these cases. Interestingly, SOX2 expression correlates negatively with podoplanin expression (P = 0.018). It is in contrast with a recent finding that SOX2 can up-regulate podoplanin expression in SCC of the skin. Our result suggests that SOX2 might suppress nodal metastasis through down-regulation of podoplanin in esophageal SCC. Further studies are needed to clarify the exact mechanism of regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Yu
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.affiliation: Chang Gung Molecular Medicine Research Center and Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yin-Kai
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chi-Ju
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yun-Hen
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chen-Kan
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsien-Kun
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yung-Liang
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan ; Chang Gung Molecular Medicine Research Center and Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chuen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hsueh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015996:Survival Rate; D000098853:Podoplanin
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; C117468:PDPN protein, human; D000098853:Podoplanin; C527782:SOX2 protein, human
keywords: Sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2); esophagus; nodal metastasis; podoplanin; squamous cell carcinoma