Altered localization of p120 catenin in the cytoplasm rather than the membrane correlates with poor prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: P120 catenin (p120ctn), a regulator of cell adhesion, has previously been found in many malignancies, and suggested a role in invasion, metastasis and survival. The aim of this study was to investigate correlations between altered localization of p120ctn and clinical-pathological characteristics in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: Immunohistochemical staining for p120ctn was performed on tissue samples from 118 patients with ESCC. The expression of p120ctn was scored for intensity and cellular localization by Image-pro Plus 6.0. Correlations between immunohistochemical staining of p120ctn and pathological characteristics and clinical prognosis were determined using SPSS 18.0 software.

Results: Membrane expression of p120ctn in ESCCs was lower than that in adjacentnormal esophageal epithelial tissues (P = 0.041), while overall cellular expression of p120ctn was not different between the two tissue types (P = 0.787). Furthermore, neither overall cellular expression nor localized membrane expression was associated with histological and clinical variables. The high ratio of membrane expression to overall cellular expression (M/C) of p120ctn was inversely associated with lymph node invasion (P = 0.001), tumor differentiation (P = 0.012) and advanced tumor stage (P = 0.005); however, it was poorly associated with T stage (P = 0.274). The high M/C ratio of p120ctn was inversely correlated with poor survival; the 5-year OS (overall survival) and the 5-year DFS (disease free survival) for the high M/C ratio group were significantly higher than those of the low M/C ratio group (41.0% vs. 6.7%, P = 0.000; 44.1% vs. 24.9%, P = 0.007). Both the M/C ratio of p120ctn and N status were independent variables for the prediction of overall survival (P = 0.007 and P = 0.027). The M/C of p120ctn predicted a 0.49-fold risk of ESCC death (p = 0.007, 95% CI 0.29-0.83).

Conclusions: The reduced M/C ratio of p120ctn acted as an independent prognostic factor for ESCC patient survival and for the migration and invasive behavior of the disease.