Correlation between insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 and metastasis-associated gene 1 protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) and metastasis-associated gene 1 (MTA1) protein, and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Patients with ESCC who underwent surgical resection were enrolled in the current study, ESCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues (control) were obtained from 197 patients. The protein expression levels of IGFBP-3 and MTA1 were detected using immunohistochemistry. The results demonstrated that the expression of IGFBP-3 in ESCC tissues was significantly lower than in the adjacent normal tissues (27.4 vs. 40.6%; P<0.05), and was negatively correlated with smoking status, degree of tumor differentiation and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The expression of MTA1 protein in ESCC tissues was significantly higher than that of the adjacent tissues (42.1 vs. 11.2%; P<0.05), and was positively correlated with the tumor size, extent of tumor invasion and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). No association was identified between the protein expression levels of IGFBP-3 and MTA1. The protein expression levels of IGFBP-3 and MTA1 were not independent risk factors for ESCC prognosis; however, the degree of tumor invasion (P=0.02) and rate of lymph node metastasis (P=0.027) were. IGFBP-3 inhibits the proliferation and metastasis of ESCC; however, MTA1 promotes the proliferation and metastasis of ESCC. There is no interaction between IGFBP-3 and MTA1 in ESCC, and they are not independent risk factors for ESCC prognosis.