High FN1 expression is associated with poor survival in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal cancer (EC) is a serious threat to human health. The expression of fibronectin 1 (FN1) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the expression of FN1 in ESCC and to assess the value of FN1 in the prognosis of ESCC patients. 100 ESCC patients from January 2015 to March 2016 were recruited in this study. qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect FN1 mRNA and protein expression. The correlation between FN1 expression levels and prognosis of ESCC patients was analyzed. The qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of FN1 mRNA was significantly higher in ESCC tumor tissues than in adjacent esophageal tissues (P < .01). IHC results showed that FN1 protein was expressed in both tumor cells and stroma. High expression of FN1 mRNA and FN1 protein in ESCC tumor tissues was significantly correlated with the depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage of the tumor (P < .05). Survival analysis revealed that patients with higher FN1 mRNA and protein expression had significantly lower survival rates than those with lower FN1 mRNA or protein expression (P < .01). Multivariate cox regression analysis showed that high FN1 protein expression in ESCC tumor tissues was an independent risk factor for low survival in ESCC patients (P < .05). High expression of FN1 protein in ESCC tumor tissue is an independent poor prognostic factor. FN1 protein could be a potential target for the treatment of ESCC.