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Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the main prevalent histological type of esophageal cancer worldwide, with a high mortality and poor prognosis due to advanced stage at diagnosis. Surgical resection after neoadjuvant therapy is the main treatment for ESCC. With the rise of immunotherapy, immunotherapy on ESCC has been shown to improve outcomes, especially the immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). As the efficacy of immunotherapy for ESCC is limited, it is helpful to screen patients who may benefit from immunotherapy by looking for predictive biomarkers of efficacy of immunotherapy. In this paper, based on the current literature on immunotherapy and related biomarkers, we review the research progress on predictive markers of ICIs for ESCC, in hopes of providing assistances for the precise treatment and prognosis determination.

Intramural metastasis (IM) is defined as metastatic tumor from the primary tumor to the digestive tracts through the intramural lymphatic system. It can occur in esophageal, gastric and colorectal carcinomas, especially in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The combination of histological morphological evaluation and molecular pathology can assist in the identification of IM and multiple primary carcinomas (MPCs). IM is usually associated with a poor prognosis and also affects the treatment. This article reviews the anatomical and histological basis, clinicopathological characteristics, treatment and prognosis of IM in ESCC, the identification of IM and MPCs and how to improve the detection rate of IM, to guide accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation(RFA) combined with endoscopic resection(ER) for eradicating widespread early non-flat type esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and precancerous lesions., Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 4 patients with early non-flat type ESCC and precancerous lesions in January 2010 at the Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Proportion of patients with histological complete response (CR) 3 months, 12 months to 5 years after operation and adverse events were observed., Results: These 4 patients were all male, aged from 47 to 71 (mean age 62) years, including 2 of ESCC, 1 of HGIN, 1 of MGIN confirmed by pathology. USL length was 6-12 (mean 8.5) cm. Treatment area (TA) length was 8-14 (mean 10.5) cm. Three cases were 0-II a (mean length 2 cm), and 1 case 0-II c (mean length 4 cm). Lesions of 2 cases were complete cycle, and other 2 cases occupied 3/4 circumference. Four patients completed their operations successfully. Total operation time was 42-105 (mean 66.8) min, RFA time was 3-12 (mean 8.25) min, and ER time was 6-20 (10.25) min, without bleeding and perforation. The mean hospital stay was 3 days. Pathology examination showed that 2 cases were ESCC G2 (lesion length 12, 8 cm; non-flat type lesion length 3, 4 cm), 1 was HGIN (lesion length 12 cm; non-flat type lesion length 1 cm) and 1 was MGIN (lesion length 6 cm; non-flat type lesion length 2 cm). Three cases were CR 3 months, 1 to 5 years after operation. One case had HGIN at 3-month and MGIN at 1-year and 3-year during follow up, and was CR after treatment with HALO. Postoperative esophageal stenosis occurred in 4 cases. Among them, 2 cases were mild without treatment, and 2 were severe, who were relieved by endoscopic water sac dilation for 5-8 (mean 6.5) times., Conclusion: RFA combined with ER is effective and safe in the treatment of patients with early non-flat esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions.

Objective: To study the difference of microRNA (miRNA) expression between two groups of early stage (pT1N0) esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients who had different outcome and the prognostic significance of different miRNA in metastatic of early ESCC, and to identify useful prognostic markers in the selection of appropriate treatment for early ESCC patients., Methods: TaqMan human miRNA arrays and bioinformatics were used to detect and analyze the expression profiles of miRNAs in the two groups, and RT-PCR was used to verify the differences in miRNA expression., Results: The miRNA arrays revealed a total of 41 markedly changed miRNAs in the survival group compared with the death group. Bioinformatics analysis, prediction and significant function analyses of targeted genes and pathway analysis identified that miR-27a, miR-143 and miR-886-5p levels were increased or decreased by seven-folds or more. The enriched target genes were GRB2, SOS1, MAPK1, EGFR, CBL, SPRY2, RPS6KA5, IGF1R, NGFR, MAPK14 and CREB1. These genes were significantly related to the following signaling pathways, i.e.Sprouty regulation of tyrosine kinase signals pathway, Erk1/Erk2 Mapk signaling pathway and transcription factor CREB and its extracellular signals., Conclusions: miR-27a, miR-886-5p, and miR-143 may be potential prognostic markers of metastasis for early ESCC. The detection of these miRNAs plays a directive role for the treatment options of early ESCC. The regulation of targeted genes and mechanism remain to be further studied.

Background: Lung adenocarcinoma is one of the most common histological subtypes of lung cancer. The incidence of this disease was continuously increased. This study aims to detect the expressions of Napsin A, TTF-1, ERCC1, RRM1, EGFR, HER2, ERα, ERβ, PR, and Bcl-2 in lung adenocarcinoma and to explore their correlations with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis., Methods: A total of 227 lung adenocarcinoma specimens were constructed in tissue microarrays. The expressions of the 10 tumor biomarkers were analyzed by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded sections., Results: Among the 10 markers, Napsin A was gender-related (P=0.049). Napsin A, PR, and EGFR were significantly associated with smoking. TTF-1 and ERCC1 were closely associated with tumor size. Napsin A, TTF-1, ERα, and PR were remarkably associated with tumor differentiation. TTF-1, Bcl-2, and ERCC1 were closely associated with tumor stage (P<0.05). No marker was related to age. No correlations were observed between ERβ, HER2, and RRM1 expressions and clinicopathological parameters (P>0.05). Univariate analysis results showed that Napsin A, TTF-1, and ERCC1 were significantly associated with overall survival. TTF-1 was remarkably associated with disease-free survival (P<0.05). Stage I cases were further analyzed and revealed that only Napsin A expression was associated with overall survival (P<0.05). No marker was correlated with disease-free survival (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis results showed that pathological staging was significantly associated with overall survival and disease-free survival (P<0.05). No marker was identified as a predictor of patient outcome (P>0.05)., Conclusions: Napsin A, TTF-1, and ERCC1 are the markers indicating good prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma.