Objective The present study aimed to evaluate the expression and intratumoral heterogeneity of LN?5γ2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma ( ESCC) . Methods The expression of LN?5γ2 protein was examined in 135 ESCC cases by immunohistochemistry, and to analyze its relationship with the clinical relevance of patients. The protein expressions in different regions in the same tumor as well as different nests in the same region were compared. Results Moderate and high expression of LN?5γ2 protein was detected in 40.0% (54/135) of tumor tissues. Positive immunohistochemical staining was observed in 31.1% (23/74) of early stage (stages Ⅰ/Ⅱ) cases and 50.8% (31/61) of late stage (stage Ⅲ) cases, with a significant difference between these two groups (P=0.023). There was no statistical association of LN?5γ2 expression with age, sex of patients, PT sage, lymph node metastasis and degree of tumor differentiation ( P>0.05) . However, differential expression of LN?5γ2 protein was found at different sampling sites in the same tumor and the same sampling site in different carcinomas. Conclusion High expression of LN?5γ2 is positively correlated with tumor clinical stages and there existed intratumoral heterogeneity of LN?5γ2 expression in ESCC tissues.

Objective The present study aimed to evaluate the expression and intratumoral heterogeneity of LN?5γ2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma ( ESCC) . Methods The expression of LN?5γ2 protein was examined in 135 ESCC cases by immunohistochemistry, and to analyze its relationship with the clinical relevance of patients. The protein expressions in different regions in the same tumor as well as different nests in the same region were compared. Results Moderate and high expression of LN?5γ2 protein was detected in 40.0% (54/135) of tumor tissues. Positive immunohistochemical staining was observed in 31.1% (23/74) of early stage (stages Ⅰ/Ⅱ) cases and 50.8% (31/61) of late stage (stage Ⅲ) cases, with a significant difference between these two groups (P=0.023). There was no statistical association of LN?5γ2 expression with age, sex of patients, PT sage, lymph node metastasis and degree of tumor differentiation ( P>0.05) . However, differential expression of LN?5γ2 protein was found at different sampling sites in the same tumor and the same sampling site in different carcinomas. Conclusion High expression of LN?5γ2 is positively correlated with tumor clinical stages and there existed intratumoral heterogeneity of LN?5γ2 expression in ESCC tissues.