SOX2 in gastric carcinoma, but not Hath1, is related to patients' clinicopathological features and prognosis.
BACKGROUND
SOX2 and Hath1 are transcription factors that are critical for the control of terminal cell differentiation in the gastrointestinal mucosa. This study investigated the correlations between SOX2 and Hath1 expression in gastric carcinoma and patients' clinicopathological features and prognosis.


METHODS
Hath1 and SOX2 were detected by immunohistochemistry in gastric carcinoma (n = 50). Probability of survival of patients after surgery was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using Log-rank test.


RESULTS
Hath1 and SOX2 were inversely expressed in gastric carcinoma. Patients with strong SOX2 expression (++ to +++) showed lower incidences of lymph node metastasis (p = 0.007), deeper invasion (p = 0.010), and III-IV clinical stages (p = 0.011) compared to patients with low SOX2 expression (- to +). There was no significant difference in SOX2 and Hath1 expression in the cancerous tissues of the patients with and without Helicobacter pylori infection (p > 0.05). The patients with strong expression of SOX2 in their cancerous tissues (++ to +++) had a better prognosis than those with low expression of SOX2 (- to +; p = 0.005). There was no correlation between Hath1 expression level and prognosis (p = 0.676).


CONCLUSIONS
SOX2 and Hath1 are inversely expressed in gastric carcinoma. SOX2 provides a survival advantage to patients of gastric carcinoma and appears to be associated with metastasis and clinical stages.
Zhang
Xin
X
Institute of Gastroenterology of PLA, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, People's Republic of China.
Yu
Hao
H
Yang
Yongtao
Y
Zhu
Rong
R
Bai
Jianying
J
Peng
Zhihong
Z
He
Yonghong
Y
Chen
Lei
L
Chen
Wensheng
W
Fang
Dianchun
D
Bian
Xiuwu
X
Wang
Rongquan
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D055815:Young Adult
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; C500942:ATOH1 protein, human; C527782:SOX2 protein, human