Effects of VEP neoadjuvant chemotherapy before esophageal cancer surgery on the malignant biological behaviors of tumor cells

Objective: To study the effects of VEP neoadjuvant chemotherapy before esophageal cancer surgery on the malignant biological behaviors of tumor cells. Methods: Patients who were diagnosed with locally advanced esophageal cancer in Dangyang People's Hospital between March 2015 and March 2017 were selected as the research objects and randomly divided into the VEP group who received preoperative VEP (etoposide + 5-fluorouracil + cisplatin) chemotherapy and the control group who accepted routine preoperative preparation. The serum contents of tumor markers were determined at diagnosis and 1 d before surgery;the expression of proliferation genes and invasion genes in tumor tissue were determined after surgical resection. Results: One day before surgery, serum CEA, CA125, CYFRA21-1 and SCC-Ag levels of VEP group were significantly lower than those at diagnosis, and serum CEA, CA125, CYFRA21-1 and SCC-Ag levels of control group were not significantly different from those at diagnosis;after surgical resection, PTEN, Smac and PTPN14 mRNA expressions in the tumor tissue of VEP group were significantly higher than those of control group whereas CyclinB1, CDK1, Grp94, MMP2, β-catenin, Slug, Vimentin and N-cadherin mRNA expressions were significantly lower than those of control group. Conclusions: VEP neoadjuvant chemotherapy before esophageal cancer surgery can reduce the growth of tumor cells and inhibit the proliferation and invasion of tumor cells in the lesion.