The Prognostic Significance of Plakophilin-1 Expression in Esophageal Cancer

Abstract

Background/aim: Plakophilin 1 (PKP1) expression is inversely related to cancer grade. This study aimed to evaluate whether PKP1 is a prognostic marker for esophageal cancer (EC).

Materials and methods: We tested immunohistochemically for PKP1 in squamous cell carcinoma EC specimens from 99 patients, including cytoplasmic (C), membrane (M), and nuclear (N) cellular areas, and analyzed their relationships with clinicopathological factors.

Results: PKP1stains were stratified into strong and weak for all three cellular areas. Staining was inversely related to tumor depth (C: p=0.002, M: p=0.00007, N: p=0.02), lymph node metastasis (C: p=0.003, M: p=0.001, N: p=0.004) and pathological stage (C: p=0.0004, M: p=0.0001, N: p=0.006). Cytoplasmic and membrane staining were inversely related to vessel invasion. Patients with strong C stain had a better overall survival than those with weak C stains (p=0.01). Disease-free survival of patients with strong M stains was better than that of those with weak staining (p=0.01).

Conclusion: Cytoplasmic and membrane PKP1 expression is a possible prognostic marker for EC.

Keywords: Esophageal cancer; plakophilin-1; prognostic marker; squamous cell carcinoma.