Significance of Expression of Complement C4d in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most difficult malignancies to cure. C4d is a degradation product of the classical complement pathway and is suggested as an early diagnostic marker for other SCCs. The purpose of this study was to clarify the association of complement C4d with ESCC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining for C4d was performed on surgical specimens obtained from 114 patients with ESCC.

RESULTS: Positive C4d expression was observed in 70 (61.4%) cases and negative expression in 44 (38.6%) cases. There was a significant inverse correlation between C4d expression and depth of tumor invasion (p=0.0001), lymph node metastasis (p=0.011), lymphatic invasion (p=0.033), and TNM stage (p=0.0021). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that negative C4d expression tended to lead to shorter overall survival (p=0.232).

CONCLUSION: C4d expression in ESCC might be useful in developing treatment strategies or suppression of ESCC.