Objective To investigate the role of lncRNA PTENP1 in regulating TGF-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods Eca109 and TE-1 cells were treated with TGF-β1, and the expression of PTENP1 was detected by qRT-PCR before and after treatment. PTENP1-overexpressing stably transfected cell lines were constructed in Eca109 and TE-1 cells. The effects of overexpression of PTENP1 on TGF-β1-induced migration, proliferation and EMT-related proteins expression in Eca109 and TE-1 cells were detected by Transwell assay, CCK-8 test and Western blot, respectively. Results The expression of PTENP1 was significantly decreased in Eca109 and TE-1 cells treated with TGF-β1 (P < 0.05). Overexpression of PTENP1 significantly prevented cell migration, decreased the cell vitality, upregulated the E-cadherin expression, and downregulated the expression of N-cadherin and vimentin in Eca109 and TE-1 cells (P < 0.05). Furthermore, PTENP1 overexpression attenuated TGF-β-induced migration of Eca109 and TE-1 cells. PTENP1 overexpression partially reversed TGF-β-induced EMT (P < 0.05). Conclusion PTENP1 plays an important role in TGF-β-induced EMT in ESCC cells.

Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of radiotherapy for stage Ⅳ esophageal cancer. Methods: Clinical data of 133 stage Ⅳ esophageal cancer patients admitted to our hospital from 2012 to 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were assigned into the radiochemotherapy (n=89) and chemotherapy groups (n=44). The survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier method. The multivariate prognostic analysis was conducted by Cox’s regression model. Results: The 1-, 2-and 3-year overall survival rates of the entire cohort were 53.5%, 20.4% and13.6% respectively. Cox’s regression analysis showed that gender, ECOG score, number of distant metastases, and whether the primary lesions received radiotherapy were the independent prognostic factors (all P<0.05). The 1-, 2-and 3-year survival rates in the radiochemotherapy group were 61%, 29% and19%, and 40%, 4%, 0% in the chemotherapy group, respectively. In the radiochemotherapy group, the progression-free survival (PFS) and local progression-free survival (LPFS) were 8 months and 12.6 months, significantly longer compared with 4.7 months and 5.3 months in the chemotherapy group (both P<0.05). The OS of patients receiving dose> 50Gy and ≤50Gy was 14.3 months and 8.2 months (P<0.05), 8.6 months and 2.8 months for the PFS (P<0.05), and 15.2 months and 4.7 months for the LRFS (P<0.05), respectively. The number of distant metastases and the clinical efficacy for primary lesions were the independent prognostic factors in the radiochemotherapy group (both P<0.05). Conclusion Radiotherapy can improve the clinical prognosis of patients with stage Ⅳ esophageal cancer.