Dysregulation of SOX17/NRF2 axis confers chemoradiotherapy resistance and emerges as a novel therapeutic target in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Table 1 The nuclear level of SOX17/NRF2 was associated with CCRT response of ESCC patients ^a

Clinical parameters	Total patients	SOX17		Total patients	NRF2
	Total patients	Protein expression		Total patients	Protein expression
	164 ^b	N = 52	N = 112	164 ^b	N = 55	N = 109
		32.1%	67.9%		33.5%	66.5%
		High	Low		Low	High
NRF2
Low	55	23 (41.8)	32 (58.2)^0.048
High	109	29 (26.6)	80 (73.4)
Age
< 55	67	15 (22.3)	52 (77.7)^0.033	67	22 (32.8)	45 (67.2)^0.874
≥ 55	97	37 (38.1)	60 (61.9)	97	33 (34.0)	64 (66.0)
Sex
Male	157	48 (30.6)	109 (69.4)^0.174	157	52 (33.1)	105 (66.9)^0.593
Female	7	4 (57.1)	3 (42.9)	7	3 (42.9)	4 (57.1)
Smoker
No	22	9 (40.9)	13 (59.1)^0.319	22	11 (50.0)	11 (50.0)^0.079
Yes	142	43 (28.2)	99 (71.8)	142	44 (31.0)	98 (69.0)
Stage
I–III	86	32 (37.2)	54 (62.8)^0.112	86	25 (29.1)	61 (70.9)^0.203
IV	78	20 (25.6)	58 (74.4)	78	30 (38.5)	48 (61.5)
T Stage ^c
I–III	129	41 (31.8)	88 (68.2)^0.949	129	42 (32.6)	87 (67.4)^0.763
IV	34	11 (32.3)	23 (67.7)	34	12 (35.3)	22 (64.7)
N Stage ^c
0	19	9 (47.4)	10 (52.6)^0.124	19	5 (26.3)	14 (73.7)^0.502
1	144	43 (29.9)	101 (70.1)	144	49 (34.0)	95 (66.0)
M Stage ^c
0	85	31 (36.5)	54 (63.5)^0.151	85	25 (29.4)	60 (70.6)^0.266
1	77	20 (26.0)	57 (74.0)	77	29 (37.7)	48 (62.3)
Response
Good	43	21 (48.8)	22 (51.2)^<0.001	43	30 (69.8)	13 (30.2)^<0.001
Poor	83	12 (14.5)	71 (85.5)	83	11 (13.3)	72 (86.7)

^aThe data was analyzed by Pearson χ² test with significant P values in bold
^bClinical information was not available in some sub-groups
^cT status: primary tumor; N status: lymph node metastasis; M status: distant metastasis

ISSN: 1423-0127