Background: Worldwide, esophageal carcinoma is one of the most aggressive cancers. It is relatively common in many countries and characterized by poor prognosis and rapid clinical progression.
Purpose: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the role of CD34, the marker of vascular endothelial cells, MMP-9 (matrix metalloproteinase type 9) and p53 in esophageal carcinoma.
Materials and methods: Forty-four archival tissue specimens, 38 cases with esophageal carcinoma and six cases with normal mucosa, were immunohistochemically stained with monoclonal antibodies against CD34,MMP-9 and p53. In addition, flow cytometric DNA analysis was carried out for patients and controls.
Results: The results showed that the DNA content was diploid in all normal esophageal mucosa, whereas aneuploidy was detected in twenty cases (52.6%) out of 38. The thirty-eight cases showed positive expression of CD34 antigen. The expression of MMP-9 was identified mainly in the cytoplasm in most of cancer cells in 27 cases (71%) out of 38. On the other hand, 28 (73.7%) out of 38 were positive for p53 expression. There was a statistical significance for CD34, MMP-9 and p53 expressions with tumor stage. Microvessel density in patients with highly positive staining for MMP-9 was higher than in those with negative and weak staining for MMP-9 (p= 0.002).
Conclusion: Our data suggest that the expression of CD34 and MMP-9 is associated with tumor progression and possibly seems to be valuable markers and could offer additional information about the aggressiveness and activity of esophageal carcinoma lesions.