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Cytoplasmic hepatocyte growth factor immunoreactivity predicting lymph node metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

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Abstract

Background

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a highly malignant disease because of its aggressive biological behavior and metastatic potential. Although several molecular markers have been identified as prognostic factors and/or clinicopathological correlation for the patients of ESCC, it has not been established as the effective new treatment for ESCC patients yet. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a biomarker as known to promote cell proliferation, motility, and invasion in various human malignancies. But the correlation with cytoplasmic HGF and ESCC has been unclear in details.

Methods

We studied the correlation of HGF expression in ESCC tumor cells from 83 ESCC patients who were operated in our hospital using immunohistochemistry.

Results

High cytoplasmic HGF expression was detected in 50.6 % (42/83) of ESCC cases examined. HGF immunoreactivity was also focally detected in some cancer-associated fibroblasts. High HGF expression group was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.029) and tumor differentiation (P = 0.018). Increased HGF immunoreactivity was also correlated with clinicopathological features associated with invasiveness of carcinoma cells (lymphatic invasion, venous invasion, distant metastasis, and pathological stage) but not with actual clinical outcome of the patients.

Conclusions

Results of our present study indicated that HGF cytoplasmic expression in ESCC was associated with increased potential for lymph node metastasis and carcinoma differentiation. These findings indicated that endogenous HGF did play an important role in progression and invasion of ESCC via c-Met/HGF autocrine loop together with HGF paracrine mechanisms.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the skillful technical assistance of Ms. Kazue Ise (Department of Pathology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine) and Ms. Yasuko Furukawa (Division of Advanced Surgical Science and Technology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine).

Ethical Statement

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee at the Tohoku University School of Medicine (Accession No. 2012-1-213), and informed consent was obtained from individual patient before surgery. Our works conforms to the guidelines set forth in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5), concerning Human and Animal Rights.

Conflict of interest

There are no financial or other relations that could lead to a conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Advanced Surgical Science and Technology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan

    Yohei Ozawa, Ken Ito, Hiroshi Okamoto, Takashi Kamei, Go Miyata & Noriaki Ohuchi

  2. Department of Pathology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

    Yohei Ozawa, Yasuhiro Nakamura, Saulo J. A. Felizola, Kenichiro Takeda & Hironobu Sasano

  3. Department of Pathology, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

    Fumiyoshi Fujishima, Ken Ito & Hironobu Sasano

Authors
  1. Yohei Ozawa
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  2. Yasuhiro Nakamura
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  3. Fumiyoshi Fujishima
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  4. Saulo J. A. Felizola
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  5. Kenichiro Takeda
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  6. Ken Ito
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  7. Hiroshi Okamoto
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  8. Takashi Kamei
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  9. Go Miyata
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  10. Noriaki Ohuchi
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  11. Hironobu Sasano
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yohei Ozawa.

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Ozawa, Y., Nakamura, Y., Fujishima, F. et al. Cytoplasmic hepatocyte growth factor immunoreactivity predicting lymph node metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Esophagus 11, 223–230 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-014-0432-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-014-0432-x

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