Clinical application and prognostic assessment of serum Tumor Associated Material (TAM) from esophageal cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between serum levels of Tumor Associated Materials (TAM) and clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in patients with esophageal cancer (EC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The levels of TAM were determined by chemical colorimetry in 100 EC patients and 100 healthy controls. RESULTS: Serum TAM levels were significantly higher in patients with esophageal carcinoma than in the control group (p < 0.001). High levels of TAM were associated with tumor size (p = 0.004), tumor depth (p < 0.001), stage (p < 0.001), lymph node metastases (p < 0.001), tumor differentiation (p = 0.001), tumor respectability (p = 0.002) and disease progression (p < 0.001). The poor prognostic outcomes were correlated with an elevated level of TAM (p = 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed patients with increased levels of TAM after operation had a lower overall survival (p < 0.001) and disease-free survival (p < 0.001). In addition, multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses revealed that TAM may be an independent factor affecting the overall survival and disease-free survival (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The detection of TAM could be used to screen for tumor and assess unfavorable prognosis in patients with EC.