[Up-regulation of HOXA13 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma of stage IIa and its effect on the prognosis].

Objective To investigate the expression of HOXA13 gene in stage-Ⅱa esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC), and to evaluate its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. Methods The expression of HOXAI3 was examined by immunohistochemistry(IHC) in specimens from 39 patients with ESCC of stage-Ⅱa, who underwent resection from 1995 to 2002. SPSS software was used to analyze the relationship between HOXA13 expression and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients. Results The expression of HOXA13 protein was detected in ESCC tissue, and the positive rate was 61.5%. The median survival time of patients without HOXA13 expression(>72 months) was significanfly longer than those with HOXA13 expression (24 months)(P=0.023). Multivariate analysis showed that HOXA13 expression was independent predictor of disease-free survival time of patients with ESCC. Conclusion The expression of HOXA13 can be detected in ESCC and is a negative independent predictor of disease-free survival, which implies that HOXA13 might play a role in ESSC, and may be used as a clinical tumor marker of ESCC. Key words: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma;  Gene, HOXA13;  Multivariate analysis;  Prognosis