Prognostic impact of clinical course-specific mRNA expression profiles in the serum of perioperative patients with esophageal cancer in the ICU: a case control study

Background We previously reported that measuring circulating serum mRNAs using quantitative one-step real-time RT-PCR was clinically useful for detecting malignancies and determining prognosis. The aim of our study was to find crucial serum mRNA biomarkers in esophageal cancer that would provide prognostic information for post-esophagectomy patients in the critical care setting.