Clinical significance and usefulness of soluble heparin binding-epidermal growth factor in gastric cancer

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of soluble heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (sHB-EGF) as a serum biomarker for gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: Serum sHB-EGF levels were measured by a commercially available human HB-EGF ELISA Kit and compared among 60 normal controls, 30 high-risk patients, 37 early gastric cancer (EGC), and 30 advanced gastric cancer (AGC) through ANOVA test. Correlations between serum sHB-EGF and clinicopathological features of GC were analyzed through Spearman's correlation. The diagnostic performance of serum sHB-EGF for GC was evaluated through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Serum sHB-EGF levels were significantly higher in AGC group (314.4 ± 127.5 pg/mL) than EGC (165.3 ± 123.2 pg/mL), high-risk (98.7 ± 67.3 pg/mL), and control (94.7 ± 83.6 pg/mL) groups (post-hoc Bonferroni, all P < 0.001), respectively. Serum sHB-EGF levels were also significantly higher in EGC group than high-risk (P = 0.049) and control (P = 0.006) groups. Clinicopathologically, serum sHB-EGF levels closely correlated with depth of invasion (T-stage, γs = 0.669, P < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (N-stage, γs = 0.407, P = 0.001), and distant metastasis (M-stage, γs = 0.261, P = 0.030). ROC curve and logistic regression analysis demonstrated a remarkable diagnostic potential of serum sHB-EGF. CONCLUSION: Serum sHB-EGF is closely correlated with advanced stage GC and can be a promising serological biomarker for GC.