Wang Wanpeng, Guo Haochun, Zhou Suqin, Zhu Jinxin, Liu Yanyan, Yu Ran, Pu Juan
Department of Radiation Oncology, Lianshui County People's Hospital, Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University Huai'an 223400, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Department of Central Laboratory, Lianshui County People's Hospital, Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University Huai'an 223400, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2021 Apr 15;14(4):475-483. eCollection 2021.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is widely known as a highly fatal cancer, and thus it is important to identify tumor-specific and radiosensitivity-specific markers in ESCC. B cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) has been considered a novel tumor suppressor gene or radiotherapy sensitivity-associated gene. However, the relationship between BTG2 and ESCC development and radiotherapy sensitivity is uncertain. The present study aims to explore the expression and clinical significance of B cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) in ESCC by analyzing the RNAseq data from the TCGA and immunohistochemical staining of ESCC samples. We found that the level of BTG2 mRNA was significantly decreased in ESCC patients, and further decreased significantly in radiotherapy resistant patients compared to sensitive patients. The positive expression rate of BTG2 protein was 56.0% (103/184) in 184 ESCC tissue samples and 84.0% (42/50) in normal esophageal mucosal samples, respectively. The positive ratios of BTG2 expression in radiotherapy-sensitive group and radiotherapy resistant group were 57.9% (22/38) and 23.5% (4/17), respectively. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that the expression level of BTG2 significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and clinical staging in ESCC patients. A multivariate analysis with Cox regression model showed that BTG2 level was an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of ESCC patients. Above all, the downregulation of BTG2 may be used as a molecular marker to identify and predict ESCC progression and radiosensitivity.
食管鳞状细胞癌（ESCC）是一种广为人知的高致死性癌症，因此识别ESCC中的肿瘤特异性和放射敏感性特异性标志物非常重要。B细胞易位基因2（BTG2）被认为是一种新型肿瘤抑制基因或放疗敏感性相关基因。然而，BTG2与ESCC发生发展及放疗敏感性之间的关系尚不确定。本研究旨在通过分析来自TCGA的RNAseq数据以及ESCC样本的免疫组化染色，探讨B细胞易位基因2（BTG2）在ESCC中的表达及临床意义。我们发现，ESCC患者中BTG2 mRNA水平显著降低，与敏感患者相比，放疗抵抗患者中该水平进一步显著降低。184例ESCC组织样本中BTG2蛋白的阳性表达率为56.0%（103/184），正常食管黏膜样本中的阳性表达率为84.0%（42/50）。放疗敏感组和放疗抵抗组中BTG2表达的阳性率分别为57.9%（22/38）和23.5%（4/17）。此外，分析表明BTG2的表达水平与ESCC患者的淋巴结转移及临床分期显著相关。Cox回归模型的多因素分析显示，BTG2水平是影响ESCC患者预后的独立危险因素。综上所述，BTG2的下调可作为识别和预测ESCC进展及放射敏感性的分子标志物。
