Cytoplasmic HDPR1 Is Involved in Regional Lymph Node Metastasis and Tumor Development via Beta-Catenin Accumulation in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate HDPR1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and the relationship between HDPR1 and beta-catenin by immunohistochemical analysis. The clinical relevance of these proteins was also analyzed. Immunohistochemistry was performed on paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 184 ESCC patients to detect the expression of HDPR1 and beta-catenin. The correlation between the results of immunoexpression and the clinicopathologic features was processed statistically. Increased cytoplasmic and nuclear HDPR1 expression was noted in 100 (54.3%) and 131 (71.2%) of 184 specimens, respectively. Statistical analysis showed significant associations of cytoplasmic HDPR1 with regional lymph node metastasis ( p = 0.021) and P-stage ( p = 0.004). The increased nuclear staining was only correlated with P-stage ( p = 0.047). Significant associations of coexpression of cytoplasmic and nuclear HDPR1 with regional lymph node metastasis ( p = 0.015) or P-stage ( p = 0.002) were observed. Enhanced cytoplasmic expression of HDPR1 was positively correlated with increased cytoplasmic but not reduced membranous beta-catenin expression ( r = 0.239, p = 0.027 and r = 0.126, p = 0.089, respectively). These finding suggested that cytoplasmic HDPR1 protein expression was associated with tumor malignant progression via beta-catenin accumulation. It implicated that cytoplasmic HDPR1 expression may serve as a potential predictive factor for lymph node metastasis and tumor development in ESCC.