Identification of Unique Therapeutic Targets in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

We utilized tissue microdissection and expression microarrays to measure ex vivo gene expression profiles in twelve cases of patient-matched normal basal epithelial cells, normal differentiated squamous epithelium, and cancer. The data set from the precisely-dissected, dividing basal cell layer was used as a ‘biological filter’ to identify genes that were specifically dysregulated in tumors, and not simply increased as a consequence of normal growth.