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. 2009 Sep 14;15(34):4316-21.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.4316.

Expression of thymidylate synthase and glutathione-s-transferase pi in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Jun-Xing Huang  1 , Feng-Yue Li, Wei Xiao, Zheng-Xiang Song, Rong-Yu Qian, Ping Chen, Eeva Salminen
Affiliations

Expression of thymidylate synthase and glutathione-s-transferase pi in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Jun-Xing Huang et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the expression of thymidylate synthase (TS) and glutathione-s-transferase pi (GST-pi) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and their association with the clinicopathologic characteristics.

Methods: Immunohistochemical methods were used to detect the expression of TS and GST-pi in surgically resected formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissue sections from 102 patients (median age, 58 years) and in 28 normal esophageal mucosa (NEM) samples. The relationship between TS and GST-pi expression and clinicopathologic factors was examined.

Results: The expression of TS and GST-pi was not statistically significantly associated with age of the patients, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion or tumor stage. TS staining was positive in 17.86% of normal esophageal mucosa and in 42.16% of ESCC samples (P < 0.05). The expression level of TS was not only significantly lower in well-differentiated (21.88%) than in poorly-differentiated carcinomas (51.43%, P < 0.05), but was also significantly higher in samples from male patients (46.51%) than from female patients (18.75%, P < 0.05). GST-pi was positively stained in 78.57% of normal esophageal mucosa and in 53.92% of ESCC samples (P < 0.05). The expression level of GST-pi was also significantly higher in well-differentiated carcinomas (65.63%) than in poorly-differentiated carcinomas (35.00%, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The expression of TS and of GST-pi may be used as molecular markers for the characterization of ESCC. Poorly-differentiated cells showed increased expression of TS and reduced expression of GST-pi.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression of thymidylate synthase (TS) and glutathione-s-transferase π (GST-π) in normal esophageal mucosa and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. A and E: Negative control for TS and GST-π in normal esophageal mucosa, positive staining can not be detected (using TBS as primary antibody) (× 100); B and F: Positive staining was located in the cytoplasm in normal mucosa (× 200); C and G: Poorly-differentiated SCC, note the diffuse strong TS immunostaining in esophageal SCC (× 200), for GST-π, positive staining was shown in the cytoplasm (× 200); D and H: Moderately-differentiated SCC, TS positive staining is in the cytoplasm (× 200); Well-differentiated SCC, diffuse strong GST-π immunostaining can be seen in esophageal SCC (× 200).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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