Podoplanin and SOX2 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy

Abstract

Abstract. Neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery are the standard approaches for locally advanced esophageal cancer. However, the overall cure rate is very low. The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the expression of podoplanin and SOX2 known as stemness markers for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and their association with clinical outcome. We obtained a total of 20 specimens from patients with ESCC who underwent neoadjuvant CRT (30-40 Gy; 5-fluorouracil plus cisplatin) followed by surgery. Podoplanin and SOX2 expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry and the association of their expressions with clinicopathological variables was investigated. Podoplanin and SOX2 staining was detected not only in residual cancer cells, but also in the basal layer of adjacent normal mucosa after neoadjuvant CRT. High expression of podoplanin was correlated with lymph node metastasis, advanced postoperative stage and vascular invasion (P<0.05), while, high expression of SOX2 was correlated with lymphatic, vascular invasion, poor differentiated tumor and incomplete resection (P<0.05). High expression of podoplanin was significantly associated with poor overall survival (P<0.05). In conclusion, the expression levels of podoplanin and SOX2 expression may be useful prognostic markers for ESCC treated with neoadjuvant CRT.

SOX2 Targets Fibronectin 1 to Promote Cell Migration and Invasion in Ovarian Cancer: New Molecular Leads for Therapeutic Intervention

“…This hypothesis was supported by Ma et al's study (2010), which showed that a subpopulation of drugresistant SKOV3 cells with high expression of stem cell markers, including SOX2, could be selected from ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells under drug selection (cisplatin and paclitaxel). Saigusa et al (2011) also showed that after neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) (30-40 Gy; 5-fluorouracil plus cisplatin) for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), high expression of SOX2 was correlated with lymphatic and vascular invasion, poorly differentiated tumors, and incomplete resection (P < 0.05). Zhang et al (2012) showed that SOX2 expression was associated with decreased disease-free survival durations ( p = 0.035; log-rank test), which we speculated might also be caused by a mechanism of increased chemotherapy resistance in the SOX2 overexpressing cells.…”

Evaluation of SOX2 and podoplanin expression in oral epithelial dysplasia and its correlation with malignant transformation

“…The hypothesized existence of CSC in oral dysplastic tissues provides the potential for more informed assessment of the potentially malignant oral lesion progression . Hence, in the present study, an attempt has been made to analyze the immunohistochemical expression of SOX2 and podoplanin (known as stemness markers) in OED, evaluate the correlation between the expression and risk of progression to OSCC thereby eliciting their role in oral carcinogenesis cascade, which could potentially impact and guide treatment.…”

SOX2 antagonizes WWC1 to drive YAP1 activation in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

“…22,23,28 SOX2 has been implicated in tumorigenicity, drug resistance, and metastasis in at least 25 human cancers. 29 Regarding clinical prognosis for cancer patients, high SOX2 expression has been linked to poor prognosis and increased metastatic capacity in the majority of cancers, such as ESCC 30,31 and breast cancer. 32,33 However, a few | 7063 CHAI et Al.…”