The K–Cl Cotransporter KCC3 as an Independent Prognostic Factor in Human Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Table 1

Relationships between the clinicopathological features of esophageal cancer and expression of KCC3 in the main tumor or cancer nest.

Variable	MT		𝑃 value	CN		𝑃 value	CN/MT		𝑃 value
	Low	High		Low	High		CN ≤ MT	CN > MT
	(𝑛=35)	(𝑛=35)		(𝑛=36)	(𝑛=34)		(𝑛=31)	(𝑛=39)
Age
<60 years	11	11	1.000	11	11	1.000	6	16	0.071
≥60 years	24	24		25	23		25	23
Gender
Male	30	29	1.000	30	29	1.000	25	34	0.520
Female	5	6		6	5		6	5
Location of the primary tumor
Ut-Mt	18	29	0.0101^∗	19	28	0.0112^∗	21	26	1.000
Lt-Ae	17	6		17	6		10	13
Histological type
Well/moderately differentiated SCC	22	27	0.297	26	23	0.796	22	27	1.000
Poorly differentiated SCC	13	8		10	11		9	12
Tumor size
<50 mm	22	27	0.2968	24	25	0.6069	24	25	0.2967
≥50 mm	13	8		12	9		7	14
Lymphatic invasion
Negative	15	18	0.6324	20	13	0.1606	18	15	0.1482
Positive	20	17		16	21		13	24
Venous invasion
Negative	19	21	0.8094	20	20	0.8133	18	22	1.000
Positive	16	14		16	14		13	17
pT
pT1	10	23	0.0037^∗	14	19	0.2309	18	15	0.1482
pT2-3	25	12		22	15		13	24
pN
pN0	11	22	0.0160^∗	15	18	0.473	16	17	0.631
pN1-3	24	13		21	16		15	22

MT: main tumor; CN: cancer nest; Ut: upper thoracic esophagus; Mt: middle thoracic esophagus; Lt: lower thoracic esophagus; Ae: abdominal esophagus; SCC: squamous cell carcinoma; pT: pathological T stage; pN: pathological N stage.
^∗𝑃 < 0.05: Fisher’s exact test.