Aim: To investigate the role of transglutaminase 3 (TGM3) gene in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and analyze its relationship with clinicopathological parameters.
Methods: Gene expression of TGM3 in fresh esophageal cancer tissues and their corresponding normal mucosas was detected immunohistochemically (IHC) by means of tissue microarray (TMA). Its correlation with clinical characteristics was evaluated and analyzed by univariate analysis. All statistical analyses were performed by SPSS version 10.0.
Results: Expression rate of TGM3 was reduced to 81.8% in ESCC. Expression of TGM3 was significantly inversely correlated with histological grade of esophageal carcinoma (in grade I, II and III tumors, the reduced expression was 4/7, 57/71, and 20/21, respectively, P < 0.05), whereas it had no obvious correlations with lymph node metastasis and depth of invasion.
Conclusion: Reduced expression of TGM3 may play an important role in esophageal carcinogenesis.