Expression Of PINCH In Human Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma And The Relationships With Angiogenesis

Objective:Modern molecular biology indicates that the process of tumour invation and metastasis is complex . Researches in the past used to focus on the functions of tumour cells in the invasion and metastasis of the tumour, while the functions of tumor-assotiated stromal in the invasion and metastasis of the tumor have been rarely reported. PINCH(Particulary interesting new cysteine-histidine rich protein, PINCH) is a member of the newly found LIM(Lin-11,Lsl-1,and Mec-3 proteins, LIM)family.It participates the fundamental function of cellar adhension,transference and survival and is related with tumour invation and metastasis. Relevant researches show that PINCH has over-expressions in tumor-associated stromal of colorectal carcinoma,breast carcinoma,lung carcinoma,skin carcinoma, especially at the invasive edge;researches on oral squamous cell cancer show that the positive rate of the lymph node metastasis group was significantly higher than non-lymph node metastasis group. Those research show that expression up-regulation of PINCH protein in tumor-assotiated stromal probably suggest a stronger invasion and diffusion of the cancer cells. At present, no research about the expressions of PINCH protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and clinical significance have been reported.The research is to investigate the relationships of the PINCH protein expression and age,gender,differentiation,lymph node metastasis,angiogenesis by detecting the expression of PINCH and CD31 in esophageal carcinoma.In that way,we can study their clinical pathological significance to provid a new biological sign for judging tumor invasion,metastasis and prognosis.Methods:SP immunohistochemical method is adopted to detect the expression of PINCH protein and CD31 marked MVD in 21 cases normal esophagus mucous tissues and 43 cases esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Results:1 PINCH protein expression in tumor–associated stromal cells of esophagus squamous cell carcinoma was heterogeneous and its positive rate 60.47%(26/43) was higher than that of normal esophagus mocosa4.76%(1/21). The statistically difference was significant(P<0.05),and the expression of PINCH at invasive edges was stronger area. PINCH protein expression was not obviously correlated with patient's gender,age,and pathological stages of squmous cell carcinoma. The positive rate of 90.90%(10/11)of the lymph node metastasis group was significantly higher than 40.93%(13/32)of non-lymph node metastasis group(P<0.05). The positive rate of 100%(9/9)of poor differentiated esophagus squmous cell carcinoma was higher than 73.68%(14/19)of moderately differentiated and 53.33%(8/15) of well differentiated.The difference was significant (P <0.05).2 The microvessel distributed unevenly in varied shapes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. It's MVD value was 55.33±29.75.The microvessel were the most concentrated in clusters on the edge of the cancer focus and part of them sprout. The microvessel around the cancer areas distributed unevenly in a comparativly regular shapes.MVD expression was not obviously correlated with patient's gender,age, differentiation, pathological stages and lymph node metastasis of esophagus squmous cell carcinoma.3 Among the 43 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, MVD value of 31 cases with the positive PINCH protein expression is 49.88±31.07; MVD value of 12 cases with negative PINCH protein expression is 60.57±30.75. There is no obvious differences between PINCH protein and MVD (P>0.05) .The expression of PINCH was not obviously correlated with MVD corresponding(P>0.05).Conclusions:1 The expression of PINCH protein in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma was higher than that of normal esophagus mocosa tissues, which indicated that PINCH could be correlated with carcinogenesis progression. In esophageal squamous cell carcinoma,the expression of PINCH with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that without lymph node metastasis,and the expression of PINCH was strong at invasive edges,which indicated that PINCH could be correlated with invasion and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The expression of PINCH was also related with the differentiation. The lower the differentiation was, the higher expression of PINCH protein could be.In conclusion,PINCH might be a marker for stroma manifesting the ability of invasion and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.2 MVD expression was not obviously correlated with patient's gender, age, differentiation, pathological stages and lymph node metastasis of esophagus squmous cell carcinoma.3 In esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the expression of PINCH was not obviously correlated with MVD, which indicated that the expression of PINCH didn't influence the counts of MVD of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma,and the expression of PINCH was not obviously correlated with angiogenesis.