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The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between tumor protein 53 ( TP53 ) gene deletion and protein expression and clinical features in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and to evaluate the predictive value of these two characteristics in the prognosis of ESCC. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were performed to detect the expression of p53 protein and gene deletion in ESCC tissue samples from different ethnic groups in Xinjiang, in order to analyze their association with clinicopathological characteristics and patient prognosis, as well as the sensitivity and specificity of the two methods. In addition, the results were further validated by tissue microarray from a different region. The positive rate of p53 protein expression was 54.5% (201/369) in the multi-ethnic group, and was significantly different between sex (P=0.026) and between tumor differentiation groups (P=0.032). FISH demonstrated that the TP53 gene deletion rate was 31.8% (68/214), which was significantly different between different tumor differentiation (P=0.002), lymph node metastasis (P=0.005) and vascular invasion (P<0.001) groups. The survival rate of patients with TP53 gene deletion was significantly lower than those without TP53 gene deletion (P<0.05). The positive rate of p53 protein expression in the tissue microarray was 58.1% (68/117), which was significantly different between the depth of invasion groups (P=0.011). The TP53 gene deletion rate was 47.9% (56/117), which significantly differed according to lymph node metastasis (P=0.003) and TNM stage (P=0.01). In addition, the total concordance rates of the two methods were 60.3 and 64.1%, respectively. There were also significant differences in the positive rate of TP53 gene deletion and protein expression in different stages of ESCC (P<0.05), which increased gradually with the progression of ESCC. The deletion of the TP53 gene in esophageal cancer was associated with poor prognosis and may be an important biomarker for evaluating the prognosis of patients with ESCC. The combination of FISH and IHC methods could significantly improve the detection rate of TP53 gene abnormalities and the accuracy of prognostic assessment of ESCC., (Copyright: © Niyaz et al.)

Chromosome abnormalities in cancer cells occur early in carcinogenesis. We employed DNA probes for the detection of cancer cells in surgical specimens in Kazakh patients with suspected esophageal carcinoma, to analyze the application of this technique during the early diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Comparative analysis was used to compare the results of pathological diagnosis with the results of FISH. We performed esophagofiberscopic biopsy examinations in 50 Kazakh patients with suspected esophageal carcinoma, including 40 males and 10 females, with an average age of 56.8 years. The final diagnosis was esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in 47 patients, and adenocarcinoma, mucinous carcinoma and small cell carcinoma in one patient each. The pathological findings of the biopsy were positive in 45 cases, and false-negative in 5. The sensitivity and specificity of pathological diagnosis were 87.2 and 100%, respectively. Using FISH to examine the same tissues, we found that 48 cases showed aberrant copy numbers in either chromosome 3 or 17, and 2 cases were false-negative, with a sensitivity and specificity of 94.8 and 100%, respectively. The copy numbers of centromeres in chromosome 3 were significantly higher than the copy numbers of centromeres in chromosome 17 (P=0.0001). Compared with biopsy pathology, the FISH test was more sensitive. Being an objective and qualitative method, the technology of molecular pathological diagnosis may effectively increase the early diagnostic rate of esophageal cancer. In addition, the centromere probe in chromosome 3 may be the most sensitive probe for the diagnosis of esophageal cancer in Kazakh patients.

This study aimed to the clarify the diagnostic efficacy of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in Kazakh patients with esophageal cancer (EC). FISH was compared with the pathological examination of biopsy specimens with DNA probes. We enrolled 20 patients, of which 15 were males and 5 females, with an average age of 58.3 years, who had abnormal esophaguses on barium radiological digital imaging. Touch preparations were performed on biopsy specimens from all of the patients and were examined using FISH for chromosomal abnormalities. We compared the FISH results with the pathology slides stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Classification, according to pathology, identified 2 cases of class II, 3 cases of IIIa, 1 case of IIIb, 2 cases of IV, 12 cases of class V and no cases of class I. The cases classified as class IIIb or higher were considered to be positive for cancer. Using histopathology, 10 cases were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma and 5 were diagnosed as adenocarcinoma, with one case being false-negative. Thus, the sensitivity of the pathological examination was 93% and the specificity was 100%. Using FISH, 16 cases showed aberrant copy numbers in either chromosome 3 or 17. By comparison, pathology did not reveal any false-positive or false-negative cases with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. The centromeres of chromosome 3 copy numbers was significantly higher (p=0.035) than the centromeres of chromosome 17. Our study compared FISH to diagnose aneusomic esophageal cancer cells with the pathology of biopsied tissue. Our findings suggest that FISH is a useful and objective assay for the detection of malignant cells of esophageal cancer. In our study, the centromeres of chromosome 3 was the more sensitive probe for the diagnosis of esophageal cancer in Kazakh patients.