SF3B4 Plays an Oncogenic Role in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Background/aim: The spliceosome pathway, including Splicing Factor 3b Subunit 4 (SF3B4), plays an important role in carcinogenesis and progression in various cancers; however, the clinical relevance of SF3B4 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unknown.

Patients and methods: SF3B4 expression was evaluated by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in 80 ESCC patients. In order to explore the mechanism of SF3B4 in ESCC, the mRNA expression and copy number of SF3B4 were obtained from TCGA and we also implemented gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA).

Results: The high SF3B4 expression group (n=33) showed significantly more lymphatic permeation and poorer prognosis than the low SF3B4 expression group (n=47). GSEA revealed that high SF3B4 expression was correlated with genes associated with the transcription factor E2F and the G₂/M checkpoint. SF3B4 expression was positively correlated with SF3B4 DNA copy number.

Conclusion: Over-expression of SF3B4 may play a crucial role in the lymphatic progression of ESCC.

Keywords: SF3B4; esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; poor prognostic biomarker.