Clinical significance of tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 in middle and lower thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

High expression and role of tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) in cancer progression and prognosis has been reported in several types of tumors. However, its role in esophageal carcinoma (EC) remains unknown. In the present study, TNFR2 expression in middle and lower thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) was detected using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Chi-square test revealed that TNFR2 was positively correlated with invasion depth, advanced clinical stage and low differentiation degree. Furthermore, survival analysis revealed that TNFR2 was positively correlated with poor overall survival (OS). Moreover, univariate COX regression analysis revealed that clinical stage, lymph node involvement, and invasion depth can affect the OS of ESCC patients, while multivariate COX regression analysis revealed that lymph node involvement and invasion depth can affect the OS of ESCC patients. In middle thoracic ESCC patients, TNFR2 was positively correlated with invasion depth, advanced clinical stage and poor OS. Furthermore, univariate and multivariate COX regression analysis both revealed that clinical stage, lymph node involvement, and invasion depth can affect OS. In lower thoracic ESCC patients, TNFR2 was positively correlated with low differentiation degree. Furthermore, the positive correlation of TNFR2 with poor OS did not reach statistical significance. In addition, univariate COX regression analysis revealed that only lymph node involvement could affect OS. All the results suggest that TNFR2 can play an important role in the progression and poor prognosis of ESCC patients. Moreover, the role of TNFR2 in the prognosis of middle thoracic ESCC patients was earlier and stronger than in lower thoracic ESCC patients.