325. Identification of Genes Expressed Specifically in Esophageal Cancer Cells

Background: Esophageal cancer (EC) ranks as the eighth most common malignancy and the sixth most frequent cause of cancer death worldwide. EC has an aggressive behavior and tends to recur after surgery and to spread systematically, despite recent surgical and radiotherapeutic advances. Survival of esophageal cancer patients remains poor, approximately 10% for squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and 20% for adenocarcinoma (EAD). Therefore, the development of novel therapeutic strategies would be highly beneficial. In gene therapy for any type of malignancy, tumor-specific gene delivery is of utmost importance. The aim of the current study was to identify genes expressed specifically in esophageal cancer cells as candidate promoters of esophageal cancer-specific expressing vector.