title: Decreased expression of Beclin 1 correlates with a metastatic phenotypic feature and adverse prognosis of gastric carcinomas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Beclin 1 plays a critical role in the regulation of autophagy, apoptosis, differentiation and the development and progression of cancer. The clinicopathological significance of Beclin 1 expression in patients with gastric carcinoma (GC) has not been yet elucidated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to investigate the Beclin 1 expression in GCs and normal mucosal tissues. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, spearman's rank correlation, Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to analyze the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The highly expressed Beclin 1 was observed in 90/155 (58.1%) of GCs, in 24/60 (40.0%) adjacent mucosal tissues and in 13/30 (43.3%) of normal gastric mucosa tissues (P = 0.036). Decreased expression of Beclin 1 in cancer cells was significantly correlated with poor differentiation, nodal and distant metastasis, advanced TNM stage, and tumor relapse. More importantly, Decreased expression of Beclin 1 was associated with shorter survival as evidenced by univariate and multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings provide a basis for the concept that decreased expression of Beclin 1 in GC may be important in the acquisition of a metastatic phenotype, suggesting that decreased Beclin 1 expression, as examined by IHC, is an independent biomarker for poor prognosis of patients with GC.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Bo
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jing-Hui
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Xing-Yu
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Shi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhi-Wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xiao-Shi
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Mu-Yan
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071186:Beclin-1; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C491997:BECN1 protein, human; D000071186:Beclin-1; D008565:Membrane Proteins