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Increased Expression of POSTN Predicts Poor Prognosis: a Potential Therapeutic Target for Gastric Cancer

  • Original Article
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Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery Aims and scope

Abstract

Background

Periostin (POSTN) is involved in many biological processes and is associated with the occurrence and development of several cancers, while its role in gastric cancer is not clear. We aimed to demonstrate the relationship between POSTN and gastric cancer based on publicly available data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

Methods

POSTN expression data and corresponding clinical information were downloaded from TCGA database. We compared the expression of POSTN in gastric cancer samples and normal samples. POSTN-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified for further functional enrichment analysis. In addition, the relationships between POSTN expression and clinicopathological features and survival in patients with gastric cancer were also investigated through univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Furthermore, a nomogram was constructed to predict the survival probability of gastric cancer patients.

Results

POSTN expression in gastric cancer was significantly higher than that in normal gastric tissues (p < 0.001). High POSTN expression in gastric cancer was significantly related to poor prognostic features, including greater tumor extent (odds ratio [OR] = 1.638 for T3 and T4 vs. T1 and T2), worse histological type (OR = 0.329 for diffuse type vs. tubular type), and advanced histological grade (OR = 1.646 for grade 3 vs. grades 1 and 2) (all p < 0.05). The 118 identified DEGs were primarily enriched in pathways related to tumorigenesis and tumor progression, including the TGF-β signaling pathway, the WNT signaling pathway, and the signaling by VEGF. POSTN expression was positively correlated with the enrichment of the macrophages (r = 0.599, p < 0.001), helper T2 cells (r = 0.146, p = 0.005), and CD8 + T cells (r = 0.190, p < 0.001), but negatively correlated with the enrichment of Th17 cells (r =  − 0.130, p = 0.012) and NK CD56bright cells. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that high POSTN expression is associated with a short overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.54; p = 0.011). In the multivariate cox regression analysis, high POSTN expression was confirmed to be an independent predictor of poor overall survival (HR = 1.681; p = 0.017). The constructed nomogram can well predict the 1 and 3 years overall survival probability of patients with GC (0.696 [95% CI, 0.671–0.721]).

Conclusion

POSTN plays an important role in the progression and prognosis of gastric cancer, and it may serve as a useful biomarker to predict survival in gastric cancer patients.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Wei Yang for his assistance in data acquisition and guidance on the design of this study.

Funding

This study was supported by the Tackle Key Problems in Medicine of Henan Province (201003124, LHGJ20200188).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of General Surgery, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, No. 127 Dongming Rd, Zhengzhou, 450008, Henan, China

      Shuaibing Lu, Liangqun Peng, Fei Ma, Junhui Chai, Yawei Hua, Wei Yang & Zhandong Zhang

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    Contributions

    Concept and design: SL. Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: SL, WY, LP, and FM. Drafting of the manuscript: SL and WY. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: ZZ and YH. Administrative, technical, or material support, and study supervision: ZZ and YH. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

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    Correspondence to Yawei Hua, Wei Yang or Zhandong Zhang.

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    All data used in this research were obtained from TCGA, a publicly available cancer database, so according to Swedish law, this study was exempt from the need to obtain signed informed consent.

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    Lu, S., Peng, L., Ma, F. et al. Increased Expression of POSTN Predicts Poor Prognosis: a Potential Therapeutic Target for Gastric Cancer. J Gastrointest Surg 27, 233–249 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-022-05517-4

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