Abstract:

Objective     To investigate expression of decoy receptor 3(DcR3)in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to explore its correlation with tumor infiltrating T lymphocytes (TIL).  Methods     Expressions of DcR3 and TIL were detected in lesions of ESCC (n=60) by SABC immunohistochemistry. An analysis was performed to search for a possible correlation between DcR3 expression and clinicopathological factors including TIL. Results     Expression of DcR3 was higher in ESCC than  in normal tissues (P＜0.05). Further, expression of DcR3 was related to the tumor’s state of differentiation and infiltration depth (P＜0.05), but not to the age, sex, tumor size, lymph nodes metastasis and pathological type (P＞0.05). The average number of TIL was smaller in ESCC with positive DcR3 expression than  in that with negative expression (P＜0.05).  Conclusion     Elevated expression of DcR3 in ESCC might promote tumor genesis and progression by blocking apoptosis and evading the immune surveillance. The detection of DcR3 expression is indicative of the malignance of ESCC.

Key words: Esophageal neoplasm； Squamous cell cancer； Decoy receptor 3； Tumor infiltrating T lymphocytes