PMID- 22460832 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20120920 LR - 20211021 IS - 1573-7276 (Electronic) IS - 0262-0898 (Linking) VI - 29 IP - 6 DP - 2012 Aug TI - RAF-kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) downregulation in esophageal cancer and its metastases. PG - 551-9 LID - 10.1007/s10585-012-9470-8 [doi] AB - Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) is an inhibitor of Raf-mediated activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (MEK)-MAP kinase and is considered as an important tumor suppressor. RKIP-expression was investigated retrospectively in 321 esophageal cancers [179 adenocarcinomas (ACs), 142 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs)]. RKIP-expression was further investigated in 41 precursor lesions consisting of 14 cases of non-dysplastic Barrett's mucosa, 5 low grade dysplasias (LGD), and 12 high grade dysplasias (HGD) as well as, 4 cases with low grade and 6 cases with high-grade squamous cell dysplasia. Corresponding lymph node metastases were investigated in 140 patients, distant metastases in 29, and local recurrences in 12. High RKIP-expression was significantly more common in Barrett's mucosa without dysplasia and in LGD compared to HGD (p = 0.047, chi(2) test) and invasive AC (p < 0.001, chi(2) test). In 187 primary esophageal cancers (58.3 %) RKIP was downregulated (AC: 51.4 %; SCC: 66.9 %). RKIP status of primary tumors influenced RKIP expression in corresponding lymph node and distant metastases (p < 0.05, linear regression). Downregulation of RKIP was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) in all tumors (p