Prognostic markers in esophageal cancer: from basic research to clinical use

Esophageal cancer (EC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related death in Asian countries. Due to the biology of EC, including aggressive local invasion, early metastasis and drug resistance, EC has a low survival rate. Therefore, molecular markers for prognosis judgment are urgently required so as to identify subgroups of patients that will benefit from more aggressive therapeutic interventions. So far, many genes and miRNAs, such as VEGF, cyclin D1, and miR-21, have been shown to be valuable when predicting the prognosis of EC. Some circulating molecules, including miR-200c, miR-1246, miR-31, have been identified as the independent risk factors for poor survival. However, the function and mechanism of these molecules in EC remains unclear. More clinical studies should be performed to promote the clinical use of prognosis-related markers in the management of EC.