Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Mar 21;13(11):1728-31.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i11.1728.

pRB expression in esophageal mucosa of individuals at high risk for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

Simone S Contu  1 , Paulo C Contu, Daniel C Damin, Renato B Fagundes, Fabiano Bevilacqua, Aline S Rosa, João C Prolla, Luis F Moreira
Affiliations

pRB expression in esophageal mucosa of individuals at high risk for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

Simone S Contu et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the pRb expression in a large group of patients with history of chronic exposure to the main risk factors for development of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Methods: One hundred and seventy asymptomatic individuals at high risk for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (consumption of more than 80 g of ethanol and 10 cigarettes/d for at least 10 years) underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with biopsies of the esophageal mucosa. As a control group, specimens of esophageal mucosa obtained from 20 healthy subjects were also studied. Immunohistochemical assessment of the tissues was performed using a monoclonal antibody anti-pRB protein.

Results: Absence of the pRB staining, indicating loss of RB function, was observed in 33 (19.4%) of the individuals at risk for esophageal cancer, but in none of the healthy controls (P < 0.02). Loss of pRb expression increased in a stepwise fashion according to the severity of the histological findings (P < 0.005): normal mucosa (11/97 or 11.3%), chronic esophagitis (17/60 or 28.3%), low-grade dysplasia (3/10 or 30%), high-grade dysplasia 1/2 or 50%) and squamous cell carcinoma (1/1 or 100%).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that abnormal expression of the pRB protein may be implicated in the process of esophageal carcinogenesis. Additional studies are warranted to define the role of the pRB protein as a biomarker for development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in individuals at high risk for this malignancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
pRb immunoexpression in chronic esophagitis (A), low-grade dysplasia (B) and squamous cell carcinoma (C). Positive cells display nuclear brownish granulation stained by the DAB chromogen (x 400).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Normal esophageal tissue sample without nuclear accumulation of pRB protein (x 200).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Parkin DM, Bray F, Ferlay J, Pisani P. Estimating the world cancer burden: Globocan 2000. Int J Cancer. 2001;94:153–156. - PubMed
    1. Ribeiro U, Posner MC, Safatle-Ribeiro AV, Reynolds JC. Risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus. Br J Surg. 1996;83:1174–1185. - PubMed
    1. Kawakubo H, Ozawa S, Ando N, Kitagawa Y, Mukai M, Ueda M, Kitajima M. Alterations of p53, cyclin D1 and pRB expression in the carcinogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Oncol Rep. 2005;14:1453–1459. - PubMed
    1. Wiman KG. The retinoblastoma gene: role in cell cycle control and cell differentiation. FASEB J. 1993;7:841–845. - PubMed
    1. Hamel PA, Phillips RA, Muncaster M, Gallie BL. Speculations on the roles of RB1 in tissue-specific differentiation, tumor initiation, and tumor progression. FASEB J. 1993;7:846–854. - PubMed

MeSH terms