Hypoxia and hypoxia response-associated molecular markers in esophageal cancer: A systematic review

Evaluation of tumor micro-environmental conditions, such as intratumoral hypoxia, is important to predict treatment outcome and efficacy. Promising non-invasive imaging-techniques have been suggested to assess tumor hypoxia and hypoxia-associated molecular responses. However, extensive validation in EC is lacking. Hypoxia-associated markers that are independent prognostic factors could potentially provide targets for novel treatment strategies to improve treatment outcome. For personalized hypoxia-guided treatment, safe and reliable makers for tumor hypoxia are needed to select suitable patients.