Low IRBIT Levels Are Associated with Chemo-resistance in Gastric Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background/Aim: We investigated whether the expression of inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate receptor-binding protein released with inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate (IRBIT) in clinical gastric cancer (GC) patients could predict the therapeutic response to postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate IRBIT expression in 115 GC patients. To clarify whether IRBIT had a relationship with the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy, we compared two groups – 62 patients treated with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and 53 patients treated with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Results: Regarding the postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy-free group, we did not find any statistically significant correlation between clinicopathological features and recurrence regardless of the expression of IRBIT. In contrast, in the group receiving postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, a significant association was found between IRBIT expression and both overall and disease-free survival. Conclusion: IRBIT may be used as a useful predictive marker for chemotherapy.