title: Down-regulation of EGFL8: a novel biomarker for advanced gastric cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently, we have reported an important role of epidermal growth factor-like domain 8 (EGFL8) in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) and documented EGFL8 to be a novel prognostic biomarker for this malignancy. However, the function of EGFL8 in the other human gastroenterological malignancies such as gastric cancer remains largely unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  EGFL8 expression in 53 cases of gastric cancer and the corresponding normal tissues were determined by quantitative real-time PCR and the EGFL8 down-regulation score for each patient was calculated. Subsequently, the correlations between EGFL8 down-regulation score and the clinicopathological features of gastric cancer were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  EGFL8 expression was significantly lower in the gastric cancer tissues than the corresponding normal tissues (p=0.0001) and the down-regulation of EGFL8 was evident in 73.6% (39/53) of the gastric carcinomas. More importantly, EGFL8 down-regulation was correlated significantly with peritoneal dissemination (p=0.037) and high TNM stage (p=0.025) of gastric cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The down-regulation of EGFL8 might be a novel biomarker for advanced gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital (Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University), Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shirahata
authors.forename: Kazuma
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakuraba
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Tetsuhiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishibashi
authors.forename: Gaku
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kigawa
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sanada
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hibi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D066255:EGF Family of Proteins; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D066255:EGF Family of Proteins; C561775:EGFL8 protein, human; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors