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Clinical significance of peritumoral mast cells in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy

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Abstract

Background

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery is the standard approach for locally advanced esophageal cancer. Recently, the microenvironment (including the host immune response) after conventional chemo- and/or radiotherapy has been highlighted. The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate peritumoral mast cells (MCs) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after neoadjuvant CRT.

Methods

We obtained a total of twenty specimens from patients with ESCC who underwent neoadjuvant CRT (30–40 Gy; 5-fluorouracil plus cisplatin) followed by surgery. We evaluated the expression of tryptase by MCs, Foxp3 by regulatory T cells, CD8 by cytotoxic T cells, and microvessel density (MVD) using immunohistochemistry. We investigated the correlation between the sizes of these marker-positive cell populations surrounding residual tumor nests, MVD and CRP, and clinical outcome.

Results

Patients with a low number of peritumoral MCs more frequently had lymphatic invasion (P = 0.0191). There was no significant correlation among the sizes of the marker-positive cell populations. We observed a significant negative correlation between the number of MCs and preoperative CRP levels (P = 0.009). Low numbers of peritumoral MCs, high MVD, and a preoperative C-reactive protein of >0.5 mg/dL were significantly associated with poor overall survival (MCs: P = 0.0239; MVD: P = 0.0317; CRP: P = 0.0395).

Conclusion

Our results suggest that peritumoral MCs may be associated with prognosis in patients with ESCC after neoadjuvant CRT.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Susumu Saigusa, Koji Tanaka, Masaki Ohi, Yoshito Ishino, Hiromi Yasuda, Yoshinaga Okugawa, Yuji Toiyama, Yasuhiro Inoue, Keiichi Uchida, Yasuhiko Mohri & Masato Kusunoki

  2. Division of Reparative Medicine, Institute of Life Sciences, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Masaki Ohi & Masato Kusunoki

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  1. Susumu Saigusa
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  2. Koji Tanaka
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Correspondence to Susumu Saigusa.

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Saigusa, S., Tanaka, K., Ohi, M. et al. Clinical significance of peritumoral mast cells in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Esophagus 10, 12–19 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-012-0356-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-012-0356-2

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