title: Significance of Expression of Complement C4d in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
abstract: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most difficult malignancies to cure. C4d is a degradation product of the classical complement pathway and is suggested as an early diagnostic marker for other SCCs. The purpose of this study was to clarify the association of complement C4d with ESCC.
  
  
  
  Immunohistochemical staining for C4d was performed on surgical specimens obtained from 114 patients with ESCC.
  
  
  
  Positive C4d expression was observed in 70 (61.4%) cases and negative expression in 44 (38.6%) cases. There was a significant inverse correlation between C4d expression and depth of tumor invasion (p=0.0001), lymph node metastasis (p=0.011), lymphatic invasion (p=0.033), and TNM stage (p=0.0021). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that negative C4d expression tended to lead to shorter overall survival (p=0.232).
  
  
  
  C4d expression in ESCC might be useful in developing treatment strategies or suppression of ESCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan k-maiko@dokkyomed.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Maiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Muroi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan.
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan.
authors.forename: Kinro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D015935:Complement C4b / Q000378:metabolism*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D000077277:Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism*; D011184:Postoperative Period
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D015935:Complement C4b; C032261:complement C4d
keywords: Esophageal cancer; complement C4d; immune response evasion; immune tolerance