Expression Of Notch1 And P53 In Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Their Correlations With Clinicopathological Features

Background: The Notch1 gene plays an important role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Recently, it has also been shown that p53 is upstream effectors of the notch signal pathway. In this study, we explored Notch1 and p53 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC). The possible associations of Notch1 expression and p53 expression with clinicopathological factors, prognosis. Methods: Notch1 and p53 protein expressions were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 123 surgically resected ESCC and were correlated with clinicopathological. Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to analyze the prognostic value of Notch1 and p53 expression. Results: In the 123 patients, Notch1 showed high in 42.3% (52/123), and p53 was positive in 61.8% (76/123). In addition, high expression of p53 was significantly correlated with patient age, pathological stage and tumor location (P<0.05) in ESCC patients. Patients with higher level of Notch1 staining in ESCC had shorter overall survival, whereas we found no relationship between p53 expression and overall survival. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that high Notch1 protein expression and histological differentiation were independent prognostic factors for ESCC. Conclusions: our findings suggest that Notch1 can serve as a good predictor of prognosis in ESCC patients. However, the role of p53 on patient outcome needs further study.