Overexpression of GNA13 correlates with poor prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after esophagectomy

Abstract

Background This study aimed to explore the expression and clinical implication of guanine nucleotide-binding protein alpha 13 (GNA13) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods We first employed western blot analysis to test the GNA13 protein expression level in ESCC tissues. Subsequently, we used immunohistochemistry assays to detect the GNA13 in ESCC specimens from 173 patients who underwent esophagectomy. Survival analysis was performed to define the impact of GNA13 expressions on the prognosis of the ESCC patients based on the clinical and follow-up data. Results The GNA13 protein was shown to be considerably higher in ESCC tissues than in normal esophageal tissues. The level of expression was closely related to the tumor, node, TNM stage, and tumor size. More importantly, ESCC patients with high GNA13 expression carried an increased risk of tumor recurrence compared to those with low GNA13 expression. In addition, a high GNA13 expression level could independently predict worse overall survival and disease-free survival in ESCC. Conclusions GNA13 could be a novel prognostic biomarker for ESCC patients after esophagectomy.