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Aberrant expression of intelectin-1 in gastric cancer: its relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis

Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology volume 138, pages 163–172 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Purposes

Human intelectin-1 (ITLN-1) is a novel identified galactose-binding lectin that is expressed in the colonic goblet cells. Since gastric adenocarcinomas can arise through a process of intestinalization, we speculate that ITLN-1 may be aberrantly expressed in gastric cancer. This study was undertaken to examine the ITLN-1 expression in gastric cancer and correlate it with clinical outcomes.

Methods

One hundred and ninety-six gastric cancer patients were evaluated for the ITLN-1 expression by immunohistochemistry. The ITLN-1 transcripts were measured by real-time quantitative PCR.

Results

ITLN-1 expression was absent in normal gastric mucosa, whereas areas of intestinal metaplasia revealed ITLN-1 immunoreactivity. One hundred and forty-two gastric cancer patients (72.4%) were positive for ITLN-1 expression. In a subtotal of 20 patients, ITLN-1 transcripts were significantly enhanced in gastric cancer tissues than in normal gastric mucosa (P < 0.001). The expression rate of ITLN-1 was higher in intestinal-type carcinomas than in diffuse-type carcinomas (P = 0.003). ITLN-1 positivity in gastric cancer was positively correlated with tumor differentiation (P = 0.001) and CDX2 expression (P < 0.001), and inversely correlated with depth of invasion (P = 0.007), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001), distant metastasis (P = 0.014), clinical stage (P = 0.006), Ki-67 expression (P = 0.001), and heparanase expression (P < 0.001), without correlation with age, gender, tumor location, or tumor size. In univariate and multivariate analyses, ITLN-1 was an independent prognostic factor for longer survival of gastric cancer patients (P = 0.001).

Conclusion

The aberrant ITLN-1 expression in gastric cancer is correlated with clinicopathological features and may be a useful prognostic factor for predicting the outcomes of gastric cancer patients.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30200284, No. 30600278, No. 30772359, No. 81071997, No. 81072073), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-06-0641), Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars (2008-889), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2010JC025).

Conflict of interest

All the authors indicated no potential conflicts of interest.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China

    Liduan Zheng, Mixia Weng & Ling Tong

  2. Department of Surgery, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China

    Meng Qi, Teng Qi & Qiangsong Tong

  3. Department of Gastroenterology, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaohua Hou

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  1. Liduan Zheng
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  2. Mixia Weng
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  4. Teng Qi
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  5. Ling Tong
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  6. Xiaohua Hou
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Correspondence to Qiangsong Tong.

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Zheng, L., Weng, M., Qi, M. et al. Aberrant expression of intelectin-1 in gastric cancer: its relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 138, 163–172 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-011-1088-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-011-1088-8

Keywords

  • Intelectin-1
  • Gastric cancer
  • Gene expression
  • Prognosis