Nuclear expression of TCF4/TCF7L2 is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The prognosis for patients with esophageal cancer remains poor. Therefore, the identification of novel target molecules for the treatment of esophageal cancer is necessary. Here, we investigated the clinicopathological significance of transcription factor 4/transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF4/TCF7L2) in resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), because TCF4/TCF7L2 expression has not been studied in esophageal cancer previously. This study included 79 patients with esophageal cancer who underwent surgery between 1998 and 2005. The expression of the TCF4/TCF7L2 protein in the nucleus of esophageal cancer cells was analyzed using immunohistochemistry. We examined the correlation between TCF4/TCF7L2 expression, clinicopathological factors, and prognosis in patients with ESCC. TCF4/TCF7L2 was expressed in 57 % (45/79) of patients. TCF4/TCF7L2 expression was correlated with T factor (T1 vs. T2-4, p = 0.001), stage (I vs. II-IV, p =0.0058), Ly factor (p =0.038), and V factor (p =0.038) and did not correlate with age, gender or N factor. Furthermore, patients who were positive for TCF4/TCF7L2 had a significantly lower survival rate than those who were negative for TCF4/TCF7L2 (log-rank test, p = 0.0040). TCF4/TCF7L2 expression significantly affected the survival of patients with ESCC. Positive expression of TCF4/TCF7L2 was correlated with a poor prognosis after a curative operation in patients with ESCC.