Zhang Xu, Lin Peng, Zhu Zhi-Hua, Long Hao, Wen Jing, Yang Hong, Zhang Xing, Wang Dao-Feng, Fu Jian-Hua, Fang Yan, Rong Tie-Hua
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, 651 Dongfeng Road E, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Cancer Genet Cytogenet. 2009 Oct;194(1):23-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cancergencyto.2009.04.027.
An effective way to decrease the mortality rate in esophageal cancer (EC) is to provide diagnosis and treatment for early EC patients. Identification of molecular markers would be helpful for early diagnosis. In this study, we obtained the gene expression profile of early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and further screened molecular markers that might be useful in early diagnosis and treatment. RNA extracted from EC cancer tissues and matched normal esophageal epithelium of four EC patients were analyzed using whole-genome microarrays. Welch's t-test was applied to normalized data to identify genes expressed differently between cancer and normal tissues. Significantly differentially expressed genes were classified according to gene ontology. Gene mapping software was used to identify pathways involving the genes that were significantly changed. Among the 54,613 gene transcripts and variants analyzed, 367 were differentially expressed between early ESCC and normal esophageal epithelium (Welch's t-test, P<0.01). Specifically, 104 genes were significantly upregulated and 263 were downregulated in early ESCC, compared with normal esophageal epithelium. Functional gene sets expressed differentially between ESCC cancer and normal tissues included those involved in gene transcription, cell proliferation, motility, apoptosis, and metabolism (specifically, pathways of cell apoptosis, the cell cycle, G protein, and TGF-beta signal transduction). We conclude that a large number of genes are involved in the occurrence and development of early ESCC and take part in various cell processes and pathways. The present findings contribute theoretical information for further screening of genes related to early ESCC.
降低食管癌（EC）死亡率的有效方法是对早期EC患者进行诊断和治疗。鉴定分子标志物将有助于早期诊断。在本研究中，我们获得了早期食管鳞状细胞癌（ESCC）的基因表达谱，并进一步筛选了可能在早期诊断和治疗中有用的分子标志物。使用全基因组微阵列分析从4例EC患者的癌组织及配对的正常食管上皮中提取的RNA。将Welch's t检验应用于标准化数据，以鉴定癌组织与正常组织中差异表达的基因。根据基因本体对显著差异表达的基因进行分类。使用基因定位软件鉴定涉及显著变化基因的信号通路。在分析的54,613个基因转录本和变体中，早期ESCC与正常食管上皮之间有367个基因差异表达（Welch's t检验，P<0.01）。具体而言，与正常食管上皮相比，早期ESCC中有104个基因显著上调，263个基因下调。ESCC癌组织与正常组织之间差异表达的功能基因集包括参与基因转录、细胞增殖、运动、凋亡和代谢的基因集（具体为细胞凋亡、细胞周期、G蛋白和TGF-β信号转导通路）。我们得出结论，大量基因参与早期ESCC的发生和发展，并参与各种细胞过程和信号通路。本研究结果为进一步筛选与早期ESCC相关的基因提供了理论信息。
