Growth factor receptors IGF-1R and VEGFR2 are associated with the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer after esophagectomy.

This single-center retrospective study evaluated the prognostic value of IGF-1R, VEGFR2, PDGFR, and c-MET expression in 94 patients with pathologically confirmed ESCC who underwent esophagectomy, and explored the potential relevance of combining immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). A prognostic nomogram was developed for clinically available factors and growth factor receptors with significant prognostic value, and the nomogram was validated with ROC curve analyses. Among the four growth factor receptors, VEGFR2 and IGF-1R expression differed significantly between death and survival groups. Worse prognosis was associated with advanced clinical stage, deeper tumor invasion, greater nodal involvement, high VEGFR2 expression, and high IGF-1R expression (clinical stage: HR = 2.15, 95 % CI: 1.45-3.20; T stage: HR = 1.78, 95 % CI: 1.12-2.83; N stage: HR = 2.42, 95 % CI: 1.61-3.64; VEGFR2: HR = 1.61, 95 % CI: 1.04-2.49; IGF-1R: HR = 1.74, 95 % CI: 1.12-2.70). PDGFR and c-MET expression were not significantly associated with cancer-specific survival. Although the nomogram showed prognostic performance (AUC = 0.512), the small sample size precluded formal histology-specific stratified analysis, limiting assessment of subtype-specific prognostic effects.