Cytokeratin expression patterns as an indicator of tumour progression in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Recent studies point out that cytokeratins (CKs) are involved in dynamic cell remodeling during cancer progression and particularly, CK expression patterns have been associated with invasion and metastasis. In oesophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC), lymph node (LNN) metastasis is an important step in disease progression, invariably associated with an ominous prognosis. To assess whether specific CK expression patterns could represent reliable markers of tumor progression, a series of 111 ESCCs (59 lymph node-positive, 52-negative) derived from the high- incidence area of Linxian (Northern China), were subjected to immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis with an extensive panel of CK antibodies.