PRAME expression as a potential biomarker for hematogenous recurrence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background/Aim: To investigate the function of preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Materials and Methods: mRNA expression levels of PRAME were analyzed in resected esophageal tissues of 150 ESCC patients and correlated with clinicopathological parameters. We also investigated the potential function of PRAME by analyzing coordinately expressed genes in 13 ESCC cell lines. Results: RT-qPCR analysis of clinical samples revealed aberrantly high PRAME expression in tumors compared with normal esophageal tissues. High PRAME expression was significantly associated with shorter disease-specific survival and hematogenous recurrence, but not with overall recurrence. The cumulative incidence of hematogenous recurrence was significantly greater for patients with high compared to those with low PRAME expression. In vitro, PCR array analysis revealed that PRAME was coordinately expressed with EGFR, ITGB, and TCF3. Conclusion: PRAME is overexpressed in ESCC tissues and may serve as a novel biomarker for predicting hematogenous recurrence.