[Clinical significance of abnormal expression of Aurora-A in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with or without lymph node metastasis].

OBJECTIVE

China has the highest incidence and mortality of esophageal carcinoma in the world, and the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the major type. In this study, the authors investigated the expression of Aurora-A in stage T3 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC) with positive and negative lymph node metastasis, and analyzed its relationship with prognosis of ESCC patients.

METHODS

ESCC tissue arrays including 212 specimens had been constructed. The expression of Aurora-A in both ESCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues was determined by immunohistochemical staining. The correlation between Aurora-A protein levels and lymph node status in ESCC and survival rate were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS

The positive expression of Aurora-A was 74.07% (140/189) in tumor tissues and 18.52% (35/189) in adjacent normal tissues, showing a significant difference between them (χ(2) = 105.162, P < 0.05). In tumors with positive lymph nodes, strong positive expression of Aurora-A was found in 42.99% (46/107), while only 7.37% (7/95) in tumors with negative lymph nodes, with a statistically significant difference (χ(2) = 36.132, P < 0.05). The cumulative survival rate of the patients with strong Aurora-A-positive tumors was significantly lower than that in patients with Aurora-A-negative tumors (P = 0.0042, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The positive expression of Aurora-A in ESCC tissues is much higher than that in adjacent normal tissues. The expression of Aurora-A is higher in lymph node-positive tumors than in the lymph node-negative ones. There is a significantly longer cumulative survival rate in patients with negative Aurora-A expression than that in patients with strong positive Aurora-A expression.