Background
Aberrant expression of interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) has been reported in several hematologic malignancies. However, the prognostic significance of IRF4 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unknown.
Conclusion
Our results suggest that increased IRF4 protein expression correlates with improved outcome in ESCC. IRF4 may therefore represent a promising prognostic biomarker and potential immuno-therapeutic target for patients with ESCC.
Methods
IRF4 protein expression in ESCC tumor specimens was determined immunohistochemically. The correlation of IRF4 expression with clinico-pathological features was assessed from a cohort of 100 patients with primary ESCC. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between IRF4 expression and patient survival.
Results
A Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients with high IRF4 expression had a significantly longer overall survival rate than those with low IRF4 expression (p = 0.0006). Furthermore, multi-variate analyses revealed that IRF4 protein expression is an independent prognostic indicator for ESCC patients.