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Clinical nutrition

Decreased plasma riboflavin is associated with poor prognosis, invasion, and metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 74, pages 1149–1156 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background

Riboflavin deficiency confers a predisposition for esophageal cancer. The role of plasma riboflavin levels in development and prognosis of individuals with digestive tract inflammation and ulcer (DTIU), digestive tract polyps (DTPs), and ESCC is not well understood.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional study, including 177 DTIU, 80 DTP, and 324 ESCC cases, to measure the plasma riboflavin levels among the three populations. Correlation between plasma riboflavin levels (categorized as ≥31.8, 6.5–31.8 and ≤6.5 nmol/L groups) and clinical characteristics, as well as survival of ESCC patients (556 cases) was analyzed.

Results

There was no difference in plasma riboflavin levels between DTIU, DTP, and ESCC cases (P > 0.05). Plasma riboflavin levels were inversely correlated with invasive depth (correlation coefficient = −0.09, P = 0.026) and lymph node metastasis (correlation coefficient = −0.11, P = 0.010) of ESCC, and ESCC patients with low riboflavin levels had poor recurrence-free survival (P = 0.035) and overall survival (P = 0.003). Decreased riboflavin was a prognostic factor for poor overall survival (HR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.19–3.07, P = 0.007).

Conclusions

Plasma riboflavin levels in DTIU, DTP, and ESCC patients are similar. Plasma riboflavin levels are associated with the development and prognosis of ESCC.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Stanley Li Lin, Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Shantou University Medical College, for assistance in revising the manuscript. We are grateful for assistance from the Central Laboratory at Shantou University Medical College, including Prof. Wen-Hong Luo, for obtaining the riboflavin concentration data by HPLC.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China-Guangdong Joint Fund (no. U1301227), the National Cohort of Esophageal Cancer of China (2016YFC0901400).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Feng Pan, Hong-Jun Luo

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, China

    Feng Pan, Xuan Wang, Shuai-Xia Yu, Jia-Min Wang, Shu-Yuan Lin, Ze-Ying Cai, Yu-Lin Gao, Pei-Tong Zhuang, Li-Yan Xu & En-Min Li

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, No. 22, Xinling Road, Shantou, 515041, China

    Feng Pan, Pei-Tong Zhuang & En-Min Li

  3. Central Laboratory, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, China

    Hong-Jun Luo

  4. Department of Tumor Surgery, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou, 515031, China

    Zhi-Yong Wu

  5. Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, China

    Su-Zuan Chen

  6. Institute of Oncologic Pathology, Shantou University Medical College, No. 22, Xinling Road, Shantou, 515041, China

    Xuan Wang, Shuai-Xia Yu, Jia-Min Wang, Shu-Yuan Lin, Ze-Ying Cai, Yu-Lin Gao & Li-Yan Xu

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Contributions

LYX and EML planned the studies. FP and HJL contributed equally to this work. FP, HJL, ZYW, SZC, XW, SXY, JMW, SYL, ZYC, YLG, and PTZ performed the experiments. FP held the responsibility for all data integrity and data analysis. LYX and EML conducted the research. LYX had primary responsibility for the final content. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Li-Yan Xu or En-Min Li.

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Pan, F., Luo, HJ., Wu, ZY. et al. Decreased plasma riboflavin is associated with poor prognosis, invasion, and metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Eur J Clin Nutr 74, 1149–1156 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0585-8

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