Exploration of the association between SF3B4 and HMGB1 expression and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of gastric cancer

Table 1 Comparison of baseline characteristics, n (%)

	Gastric cancer group, n = 114	Non-gastric cancer group, n = 90	t/χ²	P value
Gender			0.242	0.622
Male	71 (62.28)	53 (58.89)
Female	43 (37.72)	37 (41.11)
Age, years	57.45 ± 7.96	57.62 ± 7.85	0.152	0.879
BMI, kg/m²	23.37 ± 2.14	23.19 ± 2.26	0.581	0.561
ECOG score, points	1.73 ± 0.64	1.65 ± 0.59	0.917	0.360
Body surface area, m²	2.26 ± 0.77	2.14 ± 0.82	1.074	0.284
Helicobacter pylori infection			0.418	0.517
Present	101 (88.60)	77 (85.56)
Absent	13 (11.40)	13 (14.44)
Education level			0.408	0.522
High school or below	91 (79.82)	75 (83.33)
College or above	23 (20.18)	15 (16.67)

BMI: Body mass index; ECOG: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.

Table 2 Primer sequences for real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction amplification

Gene	Primer sequence
SF3B4	F: 5’-GGATGAGAAGGTTAGTGAACCGC-3’
	R: 5’-GGCATAGTCAGCATCTTCCTCAC-3’
HMGB1	F: 5’-AATACGAAAAGGATATTGCT-3’
	R: 5’-GCGCTAGAACCAACTTAT-3’

SF3B4: Splicing factor 3b subunit 4; HMGB1: High mobility group box 1.

Table 3 Comparison of splicing factor 3b subunit 4 expression in tissues with different clinical data, n (%)

Item	Cases, n = 114	SF3B4 expression	t	P value
Gender			0.639	0.523
Male	71 (62.28)	1.53 ± 0.32
Female	43 (37.72)	1.49 ± 0.33
Age, years			0.293	0.769
≥ 60	47 (41.23)	1.53 ± 0.34
< 60	67 (58.77)	1.51 ± 0.37
Helicobacter pylori infection			0.000	1.000
Yes	101 (88.60)	1.50 ± 0.36
No	13 (11.40)	1.50 ± 0.33
Tumor location			0.268	0.789
Fundus	38 (33.33)	1.51 ± 0.34
Body	43 (37.72)	1.53 ± 0.33
Antrum	33 (28.95)	1.52 ± 0.35
CEA			0.444	0.657
Elevated	63 (55.26)	1.54 ± 0.38
Normal	51 (44.74)	1.51 ± 0.33
Pathological type			0.186	0.852
Adenocarcinoma	102 (89.47)	1.51 ± 0.35
Others	12 (10.53)	1.53 ± 0.37
Tumor differentiation			4.387	< 0.001
Moderate-high	68 (59.65)	1.35 ± 0.22
Poor	46 (40.35)	1.58 ± 0.34
Maximum tumor diameter, cm			7.620	< 0.001
< 5	71 (62.28)	1.26 ± 0.16
≥ 5	43 (37.72)	1.65 ± 0.38
Tumor invasion depth			6.980	< 0.001
T1-T2	35 (30.70)	1.23 ± 0.17
T3-T4	79 (69.30)	1.62 ± 0.31
Lymph node metastasis			10.197	< 0.001
Yes	84 (73.68)	1.04 ± 0.23
No	30 (26.32)	1.68 ± 0.43
cTNM stage			5.295	< 0.001
Stage I-II	34 (29.82)	1.25 ± 0.26
Stage III-IV	80 (70.18)	1.62 ± 0.37

SF3B4: Splicing factor 3b subunit 4; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; cTNM: Clinical tumor-node-metastasis.

Table 4 Comparison of high mobility group box 1 expression in tissues with different clinical data, n (%)

Item	Cases, n = 114	HMGB1 expression	t	P value
Gender			0.728	0.467
Male	71 (62.28)	0.86 ± 0.13
Female	43 (37.72)	0.88 ± 0.16
Age, years			1.557	0.122
≥ 60	47 (41.23)	0.85 ± 0.11
< 60	67 (58.77)	0.89 ± 0.15
Helicobacter pylori infection			0.503	0.615
Yes	101 (88.60)	0.85 ± 0.13
No	13 (11.40)	0.87 ± 0.17
Tumor location			0.955	0.342
Fundus	38 (33.33)	0.86 ± 0.13
Body	43 (37.72)	0.89 ± 0.15
Antrum	33 (28.95)	0.87 ± 0.15
CEA			1.080	0.282
Elevated	63 (55.26)	0.88 ± 0.16
Normal	51 (44.74)	0.85 ± 0.13
Pathological type			0.621	0.535
Adenocarcinoma	102 (89.47)	0.89 ± 0.16
Others	12 (10.53)	0.86 ± 0.14
Tumor differentiation			10.158	< 0.001
Moderate-high	68 (59.65)	0.73 ± 0.08
Poor	46 (40.35)	0.95 ± 0.15
Maximum tumor diameter (cm)			10.028	< 0.001
< 5	71 (62.28)	0.69 ± 0.12
≥ 5	43 (37.72)	0.93 ± 0.13
Tumor invasion depth			9.681	< 0.001
T1-T2	35 (30.70)	0.68 ± 0.09
T3-T4	79 (69.30)	0.96 ± 0.16
Lymph node metastasis			17.636	< 0.001
Yes	84 (73.68)	0.63 ± 0.07
No	30 (26.32)	0.98 ± 0.14
cTNM stage			15.391	< 0.001
Stage I-II	34 (29.82)	0.60 ± 0.06
Stage III-IV	80 (70.18)	1.01 ± 0.15

HMGB1: High mobility group box 1; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; cTNM: Clinical tumor-node-metastasis.

Table 5 Analysis of the predictive value of splicing factor 3b subunit 4 and high mobility group box 1 expression in tissues for poor prognosis of gastric cancer at 1 year

Index	Optimal cutoff value	AUC	95%CI	P value	Sensitivity, %	Specificity, %
SF3B4	1.65	0.776	0.692-0.835	< 0.001	78.35	79.18
HMGB1	0.92	0.757	0.661-0.813	< 0.001	80.26	78.74
Combined	-	0.914	0.819-0.947	< 0.001	90.17	91.43

SF3B4: Splicing factor 3b subunit 4; HMGB1: High mobility group box 1; AUC: Area under the curve; CI: Confidence interval.

Table 6 Variable assignment

Independent variable	Assignment method
	0, survived	1, deceased
SF3B4	< 1.45	≥ 1.45
HMGB1	< 0.93	≥ 0.93
Tumor differentiation	Moderate to high differentiation	Poor differentiation
Maximum tumor diameter, cm	< 5	≥ 5
Tumor invasion depth	T1-T2	T3-T4
Lymph node metastasis	No	Yes
cTNM stage	I-II	III-IV

cTNM: Clinical tumor-node-metastasis.

Table 7 Multivariate logistic regression analysis of risk factors for 1-year mortality in gastric cancer patients with poor prognosis

Factor	β	SE	Wald	P value	Odds ratio	95% confidence interval
SF3B4 ≥ 1.45	1.443	0.155	6.456	< 0.001	4.221	1.037-4.625
HMGB1 ≥ 0.93	1.352	0.103	5.794	< 0.001	3.875	1.143-6.192
Poor tumor differentiation	0.819	0.091	6.012	< 0.001	2.264	1.269-5.732
Maximum tumor diameter, ≥ 5 cm	0.914	0.075	5.568	< 0.001	2.493	1.335-7.519
Tumor invasion depth, T3-T4	0.742	0.061	5.937	< 0.001	2.089	1.026-5.368
Lymph node metastasis	1.025	0.094	6.027	< 0.001	2.783	1.165-4.594
cTNM stage III-IV	1.109	0.086	5.685	< 0.001	3.017	1.418-5.798

SF3B4: Splicing factor 3b subunit 4; HMGB1: High mobility group box 1; cTNM: Clinical tumor-node-metastasis.