Malignant potential of Barrett's esophagus: special reference to HDAC-1 and MTA-1 expression.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Barrett's esophagus is a major risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma. It is important to decide when and how to treat the patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE). It was reported that HDAC-1 (Histone Deacetylase-1) and MTA-1 (Metastasis-Associated Protein-1) were associated with initiation and progression of cancer. The aim of this study is to assess malignant potential of BE using the expression of HDAC-1 and MTA-1.

METHODOLOGY

Seven BE cases with pathological specialized columnar epithelium and CK7/20 in an immunohistochemically positive state were selected from resected specimens of 23 patients with gastro-esophageal junction cancer. The expression of HDAC-1 and MTA-1 protein was evaluated using an immunohistochemical method.

RESULTS

All seven cases with Barrett's esophagus were diagnosed as low grade dysplasia. Positive expression of HDAC-1 and MTA-1 was found in 0 out of 7 cases (0%) with normal esophageal epithelium, and 0 out of 7 cases (0%) with normal gastric epithelium. On the other hand, positive expression of both HDAC-1 and MTA-1 was found in 6 out of 7 (85.7%) cases with Barrett's epithelium and 7 out of 7 (100%) cases with gastro-esophageal-junction-cancer, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Positive expression of HDAC-1 and MTA-1 was found even in low grade dysplasia. Therefore, BE with HDAC-1 and MTA-1 expression is considered to be a precancerous lesion re quiring curative treatment.