Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Aug 26, 2025; 17(8): 107013
Published online Aug 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i8.107013
Expression of stem cell marker musashi-1 and its relationship with survival prognosis in patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Ya-Xuan Niu, Min Hu, Wei-Feng Zhao, Hong-Jie Yang
Ya-Xuan Niu, Min Hu, Department of Laboratory, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China
Wei-Feng Zhao, Hong-Jie Yang, Tumor Center, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Niu YX designed the study; Hu M performed the experiments; Zhao WF and Yang HJ analysed the data; Niu YX, Hu M, Zhao WF, and Yang HJ contributed to editorial changes in the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital (Approval No. HXDXB24011), and the study followed the ethical guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all study participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ya-Xuan Niu, Technician in Charge, Department of Laboratory, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital, No. 7 Weiwu Road, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China. mini209@126.com
Received: March 14, 2025
Revised: April 19, 2025
Accepted: July 11, 2025
Published online: August 26, 2025
Processing time: 161 Days and 0.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors globally, with its incidence particularly high in East Asia.

AIM

To analyze the expression of the stem cell marker musashi-1 in patients with resectable ESCC undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and its relationship with patient survival prognosis.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 74 ESCC patients treated at our hospital from June 2020 to January 2022. All patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical resection. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect musashi-1 expression in tumor tissues. Based on the expression intensity, patients were divided into group A (n = 30, IHC total score > 2 indicating high expression) and group B (n = 44, IHC total score 0-2 indicating low expression). The clinical pathological differences between groups A and B were compared. The treatment outcomes of both groups were compared. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to identify factors affecting patient prognosis. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used, and log-rank tests were conducted to compare differences between groups.

RESULTS

There were statistically significant differences in tumor maximum diameter, T stage, N stage, clinical stage, pathological grade, lymphovascular invasion, and intraoperative blood loss between groups A and B (P < 0.05). The disease control rate in group A (86.67%) was lower than that in group B (100.00%) (χ2 = 3.868, P = 0.049); the objective response rate in group A (33.33%) was lower than that in group B (70.45%) (χ2 = 9.948, P = 0.001). The proportion of tumor regression grade 3 + 4 + 5 grades in group A (80.00%) was higher than in group B (43.18%) (χ2 = 9.933, P = 0.001). Univariate analysis showed that tumor maximum diameter, T stage, N stage, clinical stage, pathological grade, and musashi-1 expression were associated with patient prognosis (P < 0.05). Cox regression analysis model. The results indicated that T stage [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.14-7.37], N stage (HR = 1.70, 95%CI: 1.12-2.36), clinical stage (HR = 2.08, 95%CI: 1.36-3.85), pathological grade (HR = 1.54, 95%CI: 1.07-2.41), and musashi-1 expression (HR = 2.72, 95%CI: 2.03-4.11) were independent risk factors affecting patient prognosis (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the median overall survival in group A was 17 months, while in group B it was 28 months. Log-rank analysis revealed that the overall survival rate in group A was worse than in group B (χ2 = 2.635, P = 0.033).

CONCLUSION

The expression of musashi-1 is closely related to the treatment efficacy, prognosis, and survival of ESCC patients. It is expected to be a potential biomarker for evaluating the efficacy and survival prognosis of ESCC patients.

Keywords: Resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Stem cell marker; Musashi-1; Survival prognosis

Core Tip: The expression level of musashi-1 has been found to be closely associated with the treatment efficacy, disease progression, and overall survival of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. As a key regulator involved in tumorigenesis and cancer stem cell maintenance, musashi-1 holds promise as a novel biomarker for predicting therapeutic response and assessing long-term prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients, potentially guiding personalized treatment strategies.