BackgroundSeveral studies have demonstrated a prognostic impact of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells in esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma, but whether these associations differ by the density of tumor-infiltrating immune cells of the B cell lineage remains largely unknown.ResultsHigh infiltration of any T and NK lymphocytes investigated was in general associated with a favorable prognosis, but the strongest beneficial prognostic impact was seen in combination with high B lymphocyte infiltration. These findings were most evident in gastric cancer, where significant interactions in relation to OS were observed for CD3+, CD8+ and FoxP3+ with CD20+ cells (pinteraction =0.012, 0.009 and 0.007, respectively) and for FoxP3+ with IGKC+ cells (pinteraction =0.034). In esophageal tumors, there was only a significant interaction for CD3+ and CD20 + cells (pinteraction =0.028).MethodsImmunohistochemistry and automated image analysis was applied to assess the density of T lymphocytes (CD3+, CD8+, FoxP3+) and NK cells (NKp46+) in chemoradiotherapy-naïve tumors from a consecutive cohort of 174 patients with resected esophageal or gastric adenocarcinoma. The density of B lymphocytes (CD20+) and plasma cells (IGKC+) had been assessed previously. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazard's modelling was applied to examine the impact of the investigated markers on time to recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS).ConclusionsThese data support that the antitumoral effects of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes in esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma may be largely dependent on a functional interplay between T and B lymphocytes or plasma cells.

BackgroundThe global gene regulator Special AT-rich sequence-binding protein1 (SATB1) has been reported to reprogramme tumour cells into a more malignant phenotype and associate with poor clinical outcome in several cancer forms. In this study, we investigated the molecular correlates and prognostic impact of SATB1 expression in human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).FindingsImmunohistochemical expression of SATB1 was examined in tissue microarrays with tumours from 151 incident EOC cases from two prospective, population-based cohorts. Benign-appearing fallopian tube epithelium from 32 cases was also analyzed. A multiplier of nuclear fraction and staining intensity of SATB1 was calculated. While barely expressed in tubal epithelium, nuclear SATB1 expression was denoted in 35/151 (23.2%) EOC cases. Spearman´s Rho test revealed an inverse correlation between SATB1 expression and histological grade (R = -0.22, p = 0.006) and a positive correlation with expression of dachshund 2 protein (R = 0.28, p = 0.001), phosphorylated Chek1 (R = 0.26, p = 0.002) and minichromosome maintenance protein 3 (R = 0.17, p = 0.042). Univariable Cox regression analysis revealed that SATB1 expression, while not prognostic in the full cohort, was associated with a reduced ovarian cancer-specific survival and 5-year overall survival in high grade tumours (n = 105) (HR = 2.14 and HR = 1.96, respectively). This association remained significant in multivariable analysis, adjusted for age and clinical stage (HR = 2.20 and HR = 2.06, respectively).ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that SATB1 expression is an independent factor of poor prognosis in high grade EOC and correlates in vivo with cellular processes involved in the maintenance of DNA integrity. The functional basis for these observations merits further investigation.

These results demonstrate, for the first time, that abundant infiltration of IGKC+ plasma cells independently predicts a prolonged survival in both oesophageal and gastric cancer.

IntroductionThe polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (PIGR) has been proposed to be a candidate prognostic biomarker in a few cancer forms, and one previous study reported that reduced PIGR expression signifies more aggressive tumours of the distal esophagus and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ). In the present study, we examined the expression, clinicopathological correlates and prognostic significance of PIGR expression in an extended cohort of adenocarcinoma of the upper gastrointestinal tract.Materials and methodsImmunohistochemical PIGR expression was examined in a consecutive cohort of patients with surgically resected, radio-chemonaive adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, GE-junction and stomach (n = 173), including paired samples of benign-appearing squamous epithelium (n = 51), gastric mucosa (n = 114), Barrett’s esophagus (BE) or intestinal metaplasia (IM) (n = 57) and lymph node metastases (n = 75). Non-parametric tests were applied to explore associations between PIGR expression in primary tumours and clinicopathological characteristics. Classification and regression tree analysis was applied for selection of prognostic cut-off. The impact of PIGR expression on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis and hazard ratios (HR) calculated by adjusted and unadjusted Cox proportional hazards modelling.ResultsPIGR expression was significantly higher in intestinal metaplasia (BE or gastric IM) compared to normal tissues and cancer (p < 0.001). Reduced PIGR expression in primary tumours was significantly associated with more advanced tumour stage (p = 0.002) and inversely associated with involved margins (p = 0.034). PIGR expression did not differ between primary tumours and lymph node metastases. There was no significant difference in PIGR expression between tumours with and without a background of intestinal metaplasia. High PIGR expression was an independent predictor of a prolonged OS (HR = 0.60, 95% CI 0.36-0.99) and RFS (HR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.27-0.90) in patients with radically resected (R0) primary tumours and of an improved RFS (HR = 0.32, 95% CI 0.15-0.69) in curatively treated patients with R0 resection/distant metastasis-free disease.ConclusionHigh PIGR expression independently predicts a decreased risk of recurrence and an improved survival in patients with adenocarcinoma of the upper gastrointestinal tract. These findings are of potential clinical relevance and merit further validation.

BackgroundHigh nuclear expression of the RNA-binding motif protein 3 (RBM3) has previously been found to correlate with favourable clinicopathological characteristics and a prolonged survival in several cancer forms. Here, we examined the clinicopathological correlates and prognostic significance of RBM3 expression in tumours from a consecutive cohort of upper gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma.Material and methodsImmunohistochemical RBM3 expression was analysed in tissue microarrays with primary radiotherapy- and chemotherapy-naive adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, gastroesophageal junction and stomach (n = 173). In addition paired samples of normal squamous epithelium (n = 53), gastric mucosa (n = 117), Barrett’s esophagus/gastric intestinal metaplasia (n = 61) and lymph node metastases (n = 71) were analysed. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards modelling was applied to assess the impact of RBM3 expression on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS).ResultsRBM3 expression was similar in primary tumours and lymph node metastases, but significantly higher in primary tumours and metastases arising in a background of intestinal metaplasia compared with cases without intestinal metaplasia (p < 0.001). RBM3 expression was significantly reduced in more advanced tumour stages (p = 0.006). Low RBM3 expression was significantly associated with a shorter OS in cases with radically resected (R0) tumours (HR 2.19, 95% CI 1.33-3.61, p = 0.002) and RFS in curatively treated patients with R0 resection/distant metastasis-free disease (HR = 3.21, 95% CI 1.64-6.30, p = 0.001). These associations remained significant in adjusted analysis (HR = 1.95, 95% CI 1.17-3.25, p = 0.010 for OS and HR = 3.02, 95% CI 1.45-6.29, p = 0.003 for RFS).ConclusionHigh expression of RBM3 may signify a subset of upper gastrointestinal cancers arising in a background of intestinal metaplasia and independently predicts a reduced risk of recurrence and death in patients with these cancer forms. These findings are of potential clinical utility and merit further validation.

Background The development of a reactive tumour stroma is a hallmark of tumour progression and pronounced tumour stroma is generally considered to be associated with clinical aggressiveness. The variability between tumour types regarding stroma fraction, and its prognosis associations, have not been systematically analysed. Methods Using an objective machine-learning method we quantified the tumour stroma in 16 solid cancer types from 2732 patients, representing retrospective tissue collections of surgically resected primary tumours. Image analysis performed tissue segmentation into stromal and epithelial compartment based on pan-cytokeratin staining and autofluorescence patterns. Findings The stroma fraction was highly variable within and across the tumour types, with kidney cancer showing the lowest and pancreato-biliary type periampullary cancer showing the highest stroma proportion (median 19% and 73% respectively). Adjusted Cox regression models revealed both positive (pancreato-biliary type periampullary cancer and oestrogen negative breast cancer, HR(95%CI)=0.56(0.34-0.92) and HR(95%CI)=0.41(0.17-0.98) respectively) and negative (intestinal type periampullary cancer, HR(95%CI)=3.59(1.49-8.62)) associations of the tumour stroma fraction with survival. Interpretation Our study provides an objective quantification of the tumour stroma fraction across major types of solid cancer. Findings strongly argue against the commonly promoted view of a general associations between high stroma abundance and poor prognosis. The results also suggest that full exploitation of the prognostic potential of tumour stroma requires analyses that go beyond determination of stroma abundance. Funding The Swedish Cancer Society, The Lions Cancer Foundation Uppsala, The Swedish Government Grant for Clinical Research, The Mrs Berta Kamprad Foundation, Sweden, Sellanders foundation, P.O.Zetterling Foundation, and The Sjöberg Foundation, Sweden.

BackgroundPodocalyxin-like protein (PODXL) is a cell surface transmembrane glycoprotein, the expression of which has been associated with poor prognosis in a range of malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of PODXL expression on survival in esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma.MethodsThe study cohort consists of a consecutive series of 174 patients with esophageal (including the gastroesophageal junction) or gastric adenocarcinoma, surgically treated between 2006 and 2010 and not subjected to neoadjuvant treatment. Immunohistochemical expression of PODXL was assessed in tissue microarrays with cores from primary tumors, lymph node metastases, intestinal metaplasia and adjacent normal epithelium. Survival analyses were performed on patients with no distant metastases and no macroscopic residual tumor.ResultsIn the majority of cases, expression of PODXL was significantly higher in cancer cells compared to normal epithelial cells and was significantly associated with lymph node metastases and high grade tumors. In esophageal adenocarcinoma, Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed that patients with PODXL negative tumors had a superior time to recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS) compared to patients with PODXL positive tumors. In gastric adenocarcinoma, patients with PODXL negative tumors had a superior TTR and a trend towards an improved OS. In esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma combined, the prognostic significance of PODXL expression on TTR was confirmed in unadjusted Cox regression analysis (HR = 5.36, 95 % CI 1.68-17.06, p = 0.005) and remained significant in the adjusted model (HR = 3.39, 95 % CI 1.01-11.35, p = 0.048). Moreover, the impact of PODXL expression on OS was also confirmed in unadjusted analysis (HR = 2.52, 95 % CI 1.31-4.85, p = 0.006) and remained significant in the adjusted model (HR = 2.03, 95 % CI 1.04-3.98, p = 0.039).ConclusionsIn esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma, PODXL expression is an independent prognostic biomarker for reduced time to recurrence and poor overall survival. This is the first report on the prognostic role of PODXL in esophageal adenocarcinoma and validates recent findings in gastric cancer.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12907-016-0034-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: The outlook for patients with esophageal and gastric (EG) cancer remains poor. Hence, there is a compelling need to identify novel treatment strategies and complementary biomarkers. Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR) are putative biomarkers of response to immune-checkpoint blockade, but their prognostic value and interrelationship in EG cancer have been sparsely investigated.Methods: Immunohistochemical expression of PD-L1 on tumour cells (TC) and tumour-infiltrating immune cells (TIC), and of PD-1 (programmed death receptor 1) on TIC was assessed using tissue microarrays with primary tumours and a subset of paired lymph node metastases from a consecutive, retrospective cohort of 174 patients with chemoradiotherapy-naïve EG adenocarcinoma. MMR proteins MLH1, PMS2, MSH2, and MSH6 were assessed by immunohistochemistry. The total number (intratumoural, tumour-adjacent, and stromal) of CD8+ T cells in each core was calculated by automated analysis.Results: High PD-L1 expression on both TC and TIC, but not PD-1 expression, was significantly associated with dMMR. PD-L1 expression on TIC was significantly higher in lymph node metastases than in primary tumours. High expression of PD-L1 or PD-1 on TIC was significantly associated with a prolonged survival, the former independently of established prognostic factors. A significant stepwise positive association was found between CD8+ T cells and categories of PD-L1 expression on TIC.Conclusion: PD-L1 expression on TIC is higher in lymph node metastases compared to primary tumours, correlates with dMMR, and is an independent factor of prolonged survival in patients with chemoradiotherapy-naïve EG adenocarcinoma. These findings suggest that PD-L1 expression on TIC may be a useful biomarker for identifying patients who may not need additional chemo- or chemoradiotherapy, and who may benefit from PD-1/PD-L1 immune-checkpoint blockade.