Tumor suppressor maspin is a differentially regulated gene in the progression of many types of cancer. While the biological function of maspin in blocking tumor invasion and metastasis is consistent with the loss of maspin expression at the late stage of tumor progression, the differential expression and the biological significance of maspin in early stage of tumor progression appear to be comp...

PURPOSE Aurora-A/STK15/BTAK, a centrosome-associated oncogenic protein, is implicated in the control of mitosis. Overexpression of Aurora-A has been shown to result in chromosomal aberration and genomic instability. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that Aurora-A induces cell malignant transformation. In the current study, we are interested in investigating the expression of Aurora-A in human...

The human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cell line (EC9706), which expresses Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), was used to investigate the mechanism by which a new nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), NS398, inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in ESCC. The EC9706 cells were treated with various concentrations of selective COX-2 inhibitor, NS-398. Treatment with cox-2 select...

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are the two main types of esophageal cancer. Despite extensive research the exact molecular basis of these cancers is unclear. Therefore we evaluated the transcriptome of EA in comparison to non-dysplastic Barrett's esophagus (BE), the metaplastic epithelium that predisposes for EA, and compared the transcriptome of ES...

Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) is known as an autocrine growth factor for a number of gastrointestinal cancers. There is, however, little information on the expression of GRP in the squamous epithelia and squamous cell carcinoma, particularly in the esophagus. With a differential display approach, up-regulated GRP was observed in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) samples obtained...

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the human esophagus has a multifactorial etiology involving several environmental and/or genetic factors. Recently, gastroesophageal reflux has been implicated as a causative factor in upper aerodigestive tract carcinogenesis. The development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in a duodenal contents reflux model without any known carcinogen present has...

PURPOSE Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin receptor (NGALR) mRNA level is reduced in isolated chronic myelogenous leukemia blasts but up-regulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The mechanism of NGALR regulation is unknown. Here, we show the expression pattern of NGALR and examine the aberrant methylation of its gene in ESCC and esophageal carcinoma cell lines. EXPERIME...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE CXCL12/CXCR4 is expressed in many kinds of tumors, which is associated with tumor proliferation and invasion. This study was to investigate the expression of CXCL12/CXCR4, and explore its correlation to prognosis and clinicopathologic factors of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS The expression of CXCL12/CXCR4 protein in 186 specimens of ESCC was asses...

OBJECTIVE Human sirtuin-3, a protein involved in the mediation of tumors, has been shown to be present in malignancies. The goal of this study was to measure serum sirtuin-3 levels in esophageal squamous cancer cells and to determine whether sirtuin-3 may possess predictive value in advanced cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 130 ESCC patients ...