Abstract: Objective To determine the correlation of 14-3-3σ expression with clinical features and its prognostic value in ESCC. Methods Eighty frozen ESCC samples of TNMⅠ to Ⅳ stage stored at -86℃ and a tissue microarray containing 86 fixed ESCC samples were used. Western blot was used to examine the 14-3-3σ protein expression in frozen ESCC, and IHC to estimate the 14-3-3σ protein expression in 86 ESCC samples from tissue microarray. The association of 14-3-3σ protein expression with clinical features and ESCC prognosis was determined by Kaplan–Meier curves. Results 14-3-3σ immunostaining was located predominantly in the cytoplasm and plasma membrane. 14-3-3σ was positively correlated with differentiation, and negatively with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage（P < 0.05）. The average survival time of ESCC patients with 14-3-3σ high and low expression was 39.82 months and 28.45 months, respectively, and the overall 5 year survival rate 43.31% and 24.8%, respectively (log-rank test, P＜ 0.01). TNM stage and 14-3-3σ were independent prognostic factors of ESCC. Conclusion Low/loss protein expression of 14-3-3σ may correlate with poor prognosis of ESCC.

Key words: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, 14-3-3σ, biomarker, prognosis