Prognostic value of preoperative serum ferritin in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective To evaluate preoperative serum ferritin (SF) in predicting the prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 280 ESCC patients undergoing radical resection of esophageal cancer at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital from Jan 2008 to Dec 2013. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to investigate the relationship between preoperative SF level and patients′ clinicopathologic characteristics. Kaplain-Meier method was used to analyze the relationship between preoperative SF level and the prognosis. Results There were 183 cases (65.4%) with low SF level and 97cases (34.6%) with high SF level. The 1-, 3-and 5-year survival rates in low SF patients were 78.7%, 50.3%, 43.2% and that in high SF were 69.1%, 35.1%, 32.0%, respectively (χ2=4.697, P=0.031). Univariate analysis demonstrated that intravascular cancer embolus, nerve infiltration and the level of preoperative SF were related to ESCC patients prognosis (all P<0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that carcinoma cell embolus (OR=1.662, 95% CI: 1.239-2.229, P=0.001), nerve infiltration (OR=1.823, 95%CI: 1.361-2.443, P<0.001) and the level of preoperative SF (OR=1.504, 95%CI: 1.113-2.032, P=0.008) were independent risk factors for ESCC patients prognosis. Conclusion Preoperative SF level closely associates with the prognosis of ESCC patients. Key words: Esophageal neoplasms; Ferritins; Prognosis