Prognostic significance of sex determining region Y-box 2, E-cadherin, and vimentin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the 185 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Characteristic	n (%)
Age, yr
< 65	100 (54.1)
≥ 65	85 (45.9)
Gender
Male	129 (69.7)
Female	56 (30.3)
Ethnicity
Han	96 (51.9)
Kazakh	89 (48.1)
Tumor location
Upper	8 (4.3)
Middle	97 (52.4)
Lower	80 (43.2)
Tumor size
< 3 cm	121 (65.4)
≥ 3 cm	64 (34.6)
Degree of differentiation
High	23 (12.4)
Moderate	117 (63.2)
Poor	45 (24.3)
AJCC stage
I	15 (8.1)
II	119 (64.3)
III	35 (18.9)
IV	16 (8.6)
T stage
T1	7 (3.8)
T2	78 (42.2)
T3	91 (49.2)
T4	9 (4.9)
N stage
N0	128 (69.2)
N1	33 (17.8)
N2	19 (10.3)
N3	5 (2.7)
M stage
No	176 (95.1)
Yes	9 (4.9)
Depth of invasion
Mucosa	51 (27.6)
Muscularis	49 (26.5)
Full thickness	85 (45.9)
Lymph node metastasis
No	128 (69.2)
Yes	57 (30.8)
Survival status
Alive	139 (75.1)
Dead	46 (24.9)

Table 2 Relationship of sex determining region Y-box 2, E-cadherin, and vimentin with demographic and clinical characteristics

Characteristic	SOX2, n (%)		P value	E-cadherin, n (%)		P value	Vimentin, n (%)		P value
	(-)	(+)		(-)	(+)		(-)	(+)
Cases	83 (44.9)	102 (55.1)		114 (61.6)	71 (38.4)		69 (37.3)	116 (62.7)
Age, yr
< 65	44 (53.0)	56 (54.9)	0.882	62 (54.4)	38 (53.5)	0.909	34 (49.3)	66 (56.9)	0.314
≥ 65	39 (47.0)	46 (45.1)		52 (45.6)	33 (46.5)		35 (50.7)	50 (43.1)
Gender
Male	57 (68.7)	72 (70.6)	0.872	82 (71.9)	47(66.2)	0.409	53 (76.8)	76 (65.5)	0.106
Female	26 (31.3)	30 (29.4)		32 (28.1)	24 (33.8)		16 (23.2)	40 (34.5)
Ethnicity
Han	49 (59.0)	47 (46.1)	0.103	62 (54.4)	34 (47.9)	0.390	38 (55.1)	58 (50.0)	0.504
Kazakh	34 (41.0)	55 (53.9)		52 (45.6)	37 (52.1)		31 (44.9)	58 (50.0)
Tumor size
< 3 cm	71 (85.5)	50 (49.0)	< 0.001a	75 (65.8)	46 (64.8)	0.889	51 (73.9)	70 (60.3)	0.061
≥ 3 cm	12 (14.5)	52 (51.0)		39 (34.2)	25 (35.2)		18 (26.1)	46 (39.7)
Lymph node metastasis
No	60 (72.3)	68 (66.7)	0.428	76 (66.7)	52 (73.2)	0.346	53 (76.8)	75 (64.7)	0.083
Yes	23 (27.7)	34 (33.3)		38 (33.3)	19 (26.8)		16 (23.2)	41 (35.3)
Tumor location
Upper	1 (1.2)	7 (6.9)	0.108	5 (4.4)	3 (4.2)	0.780	3 (4.3)	5 (4.3)	0.935
Middle	47 (56.6)	50 (49.0)		62 (54.4)	35 (49.3)		35 (50.7)	62 (53.4)
Lower	35 (42.2)	45 (44.1)		47 (41.2)	33 (46.5)		31 (44.9)	49 (42.2)
Degree of differentiation
High	12 (14.5)	11 (10.8)	0.475	10(8.8)	13 (18.3)	0.035a	9 (13.0)	14 (12.1)	0.953
Moderate	54 (65.1)	63 (61.8)		80 (70.2)	37 (52.1)		44 (63.8)	73 (62.9)
Poor	17 (20.5)	28 (27.5)		24 (21.1)	21 (29.6)		16 (23.2)	29 (25.0)
AJCC stage
I	6 (7.2)	9 (8.8)	0.697	10(8.8)	5(7.0)	0.385	6 (8.7)	9 (7.8)	0.592
II	57 (68.7)	62 (60.8)		73 (64.0)	46 (64.8)		48 (69.6)	71 (61.2)
III	13 (15.7)	22 (21.6)		24(21.1)	11 (15.5)		10 (14.5)	25 (21.6)
IV	7 (8.4)	9 (8.8)		7 (6.1)	9 (12.7)		5 (7.2)	11 (9.5)
T stage
T1	3 (3.6)	4 (3.9)	0.333	5 (4.4)	2 (2.8)	0.887	2 (2.9)	5 (4.3)	0.059
T2	41 (49.4)	37 (36.3)		49 (43.0)	29 (40.8)		37 (53.6)	41 (35.3)
T3	36 (43.4)	55 (53.9)		54 (47.4	37 (52.1)		29 (42.0)	62 (53.4)
T4	3 (3.6)	6 (5.9)		6 (5.3)	3 (4.2)		1 (1.4)	8 (6.9)
N stage
N0	60 (72.3)	68 (66.7)	0.122	76 (66.7)	52 (73.2)	0.274	53 (76.8)	75 (64.7)	0.342
N1	10 (12.0)	23 (22.5)		25 (21.9)	8 (11.3)		9 (13.0)	24 (20.7)
N2	9 (10.8)	10 (9.8)		10(8.8)	9(12.7)		5 (7.2)	14 (12.1)
N3	4 (4.8)	1 (1.0)		3 (2.6)	2 (2.8)		2 (2.9)	3 (2.6)
M stage
No	81 (97.6)	95 (93.1)	0.190	111 (97.4)	65(91.5)	0.088	67 (97.1)	109 (94.0)	0.488
Yes	2 (2.4)	7 (6.9)		3 (2.6)	6 (8.5)		2 (2.9)	7 (6.0)
Depth of invasion
Mucosa	35 (42.2)	16(15.7)	< 0.001a	29 (25.4)	22 (31.0)	0.412	27(39.1)	24 (20.7)	0.007a
Muscularis/Full thickness	48(57.8)	86 (84.3)		85 (74.6)	49 (69.0)		42 (60.9)	92 (79.3)

^aP < 0.05, statistically significant. SOX2: Sex determining region Y-box 2.

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with overall survival

Characteristic	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
	Hazard ratio	95%CI	P value	Hazard ratio	95%CI	P value
Age, yr (≥ 65 vs < 65)	1.23	0.88-1.71	0.233
Gender (Female vs Male)	0.94	0.66-1.36	0.753
Ethnicity (Han vs Kazakh)	1.05	0.75-1.46	0.782
Tumor size (≥ 3 cm vs < 3 cm)	0.92	0.64-1.33	0.658
Tumor location (Upper vs Middle and Lower)	1.08	0.80-1.47	0.605
AJCC stage (I vs II vs III vs IV)	1.21	0.96-1.51	0.100
Lymph node metastasis (No vs Yes)	1.41	0.99-2.00	0.058
Metastasis (No vs Yes)	1.70	0.83-3.48	0.147
Degree of differentiation (High vs Moderate vs Poor)	0.76	0.56-1.02	0.069
E-cadherin expression (Positive vs Negative)	1.18	0.84-1.66	0.337
Invasion (Mucosa vs Muscularis vs Full)	0.65	0.45-0.92	0.015a	0.49	0.331-0.711	< 0.001a
EMT (Epithelial vs Mixed vs Mesenchymal)	1.36	1.06-1.74	0.016a	1.22	0.867-1.719	0.253
SOX2 expression (Positive vs Negative)	1.44	1.03- 2.03	0.034a	1.53	1.06-2.20	0.022a
Vimentin expression (Positive vs Negative)	1.51	1.06- 2.13	0.022a	1.37	0.83-2.26	0.224

^aP < 0.05, statistically significant. EMT: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition; SOX2: Sex determining region Y-box 2.