Association of activated transcription factor nuclear factor κB with chemoradiation resistance and poor outcome in esophageal carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose: The lack of effective treatment for localized esosphageal cancer leads to poor patient outcome. Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), a transcriptional factor, is constitutively activated or treatment induced in esophageal cancer and may influence treatment outcomes. Patients and Methods: Pre- and post-treatment cancer specimens from patients enrolled onto a clinical trial were studied for the expression of activated NF-κB protein and it was correlated with histologic features, pathologic response, metastatic potential, overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS). Results: Forty-three patients undergoing the same therapy on a protocol were studied. Twenty-one (72%) of 29 patients achieving less than complete pathologic response (pathCR) had NF-κB positive cancer, but only one (7%) of 14 patients achieving pathCR had NF-κB positive cancer (P =