Expression of HDAC8 indicates poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and progression to advanced stage

Background: We determined to assess the HDAC8 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients and prognostic potential though there is only a little research contribution regarding HDAC8 to tumorigenesis of ESCC. Methods: The immunohistochemical expression of HDAC8 was investigated on tissue microarrays (TMAs) from 110 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.The nuclear staining intensity is calculated by the immune reactivity score ranging from (0-12) and divides them into two groups: no expression group and overexpression. Results: The median follow-up duration was 70 months. Highly regulated HDAC8 protein significantly predicted decreased 5-year overall survival (p = 0.001) and progression-free survival (p = 0.001) demonstrated by the log-rank test. Furthermore, HDAC8 protein acts as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and progression-free survival, which determined after multivariate analyses. By Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis, the value of HDAC8 was (0.63±0.54,p=0.04) according to advance cancer stage and (0.59±0.06,p=0.04) according to the lymph node status found in the Area under the curve (AUC). Conclusion: HDAC8 protein is highly regulated in ESCC tissues and potential prognostic indicator for diagnosing patients with decreased survival period.