Brief Article
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 14, 2012; 18(34): 4744-4750
Published online Sep 14, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i34.4744
Clinicopathologic significance of expression of nuclear factor-κB RelA and its target gene products in gastric cancer patients
Hyuk-Chan Kwon, Sung-Hyun Kim, Sung Yong Oh, Suee Lee, Ji Hyun Lee, Jin Seok Jang, Min Chan Kim, Ki Han Kim, Su-Jin Kim, Seong-Geun Kim, Hyo-Jin Kim
Hyuk-Chan Kwon, Sung-Hyun Kim, Sung Yong Oh, Suee Lee, Ji Hyun Lee, Jin Seok Jang, Hyo-Jin Kim, Department of Internal Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan 602-715, South Korea
Min Chan Kim, Ki Han Kim, Department of Surgery, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan 602-715, South Korea
Su-Jin Kim, Department of Pathology, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan 602-715, South Korea
Seong-Geun Kim, Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Busan 602-715, South Korea
Author contributions: Kim SJ and Kim HJ designed research; Kim MC and Kim KH contributed to analytic tools; Lee S, Lee JH and Jang JS analyzed data; and Kim SG, Kwon HC, Kim SH and Oh SY wrote the paper.
Supported by The Dong-A University Research Fund
Correspondence to: Hyo-Jin Kim, MD, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, 3-1 Dongdaeshin-dong, Seo-gu, Busan 602-715, South Korea. kimhj@dau.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-51-2402951 Fax: +82-51-2402088
Received: March 10, 2012
Revised: June 4, 2012
Accepted: June 15, 2012
Published online: September 14, 2012
Abstract

AIM: To assess the prognostic significance of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and its target genes in gastric cancer.

METHODS: The tumor tissues of 115 patients with gastric cancer were immunohistochemically evaluated using monoclonal antibodies against NF-κB RelA. Preoperative serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin-6 (IL-6) were assessed via enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay. C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) were measured via immunotrubidimetry.

RESULTS: Positive rate of NF-κB RelA was 42.6%. NF-κB RelA expression in tumor tissues was also related to serum levels of IL-6 (P = 0.044) and CRP (P = 0.010). IL-6, SAA, CRP were related to depth of invasion, VEGF and SAA were correlated with lymph node metastasis. IL-6, VEGF, SAA and CRP were related to the stage. Univariate analysis demonstrated that immunostaining of NF-κB RelA, levels of IL-6, VEGF, SAA were significantly related with both disease free survival and overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis verified that NF-κB RelA [hazard ratio (HR): 3.40, P = 0.024] and SAA (HR: 3.39, P = 0.045) were independently associated with OS.

CONCLUSION: Increased expression of NF-κB RelA and high levels of serum SAA were associated with poor OS in gastric cancer patients.

Keywords: Nuclear factor-κB, Vascular endothelial growth factor, Interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, Serum amyloid A, Stomach, Carcinoma