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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Development of Compendium for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: April 12, 2024
AXL is a marker for epithelial-mesenchymal transition in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Guoan Zhang1, Xia Kong2, Meng Wang3
1Cancer Pathology Research Institute, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong 272067, P.R. China.
Abstract:
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common cancer in China and certain other parts of the world with a dismal prognosis for affected patients. AXL is a member of the TYRO3-AXL-MER family of receptor tyrosine kinases, and has been revealed to be an important mediator of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in several types of cancer. However, to the best of our knowledge, its function in EMT in ESCC cells has not yet been examined. The present study employed two independent ESCC mRNA profile datasets and revealed that AXL is associated with several EMT markers. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis indicated that EMT occurs more in ESCC with high AXL expression. Analysis on another dataset demonstrated further that increased expression of AXL in ESCC is associated with increased migratory ability. Collectively, the results of the present study provide evidence that AXL is a marker for EMT in ESCC.
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