Clinical significance of stathmin1 expression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in curatively resected gastric cancer

Abstract

In our previous study, it was demonstrated that the Stathmin1 (STMN1) is overexpressed in gastric cancer (GC) and that its high expression level is associated with tumor invasion and metastasis. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has also been shown to be critically involved in GC invasion and metastasis. Certain studies have indicated that STMN1 may serve an important role in the EMT process. However, the association between STMN1 expression and EMT-associated markers, as well as clinicopathological characteristics of patients with GC, remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinicopathological significance and prognostic value of STMN1 and EMT-associated markers in GC. The expression of STMN1 and the EMT-associated proteins E-cadherin (E-Cad) and vimentin (VIM) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry in GC and adjacent non-tumorous tissues. Associations between the expression of these markers and clinicopathological parameters were analyzed. The association between STMN1 expression and EMT-associated markers was investigated in the GC cell lines BGC-803 and SGC-7901. The results revealed that STMN1 was expressed in 63.5% of the 167 GC tissues, which was significantly higher than the percentage observed in the adjacent non-tumorous.