title: Absence of RKIP expression is an independent prognostic biomarker for             gastric cancer patients.
abstract: Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, and the presence             of lymph node metastasis an important prognostic factor. Downregulation of RKIP             has been associated with tumor progression and metastasis in several types of             neoplasms, being currently categorized as a metastasis suppressor gene. Our aim             was to determine the expression levels of RKIP in gastric tissues and to evaluate             its impact in the clinical outcome of gastric carcinoma patients. RKIP expression             levels were studied by immunohistochemistry in a series of gastric tissues. Overall,             we analysed 222 non-neoplastic gastric tissues, 152 primary tumors and 42 lymph             node metastasis samples. We observed that RKIP was highly expressed in ~83% of             non-neoplastic tissues (including normal tissue and metaplasia), was lost in ~56%             of primary tumors and in ~90% of lymph node metastasis samples. Loss of RKIP expression             was significantly associated with several markers of poor clinical outcome, including             the presence of lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, the absence of RKIP protein             constitutes an independent prognostic marker for these patients. In conclusion,             RKIP expression is significantly lost during gastric carcinoma progression being             almost absent in lymph node metastasis samples. Of note, we showed that the absence             of RKIP expression is associated with poor outcome features of gastric cancer             patients, this being also an independent prognostic marker.
authors.affiliation: Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, Health Sciences School, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Martinho
authors.forename: Kleber
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.forename: Adhemar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longatto-Filho
authors.forename: Carlos Eduardo
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zilberstein
authors.forename: Cláudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bresciani
authors.forename: Joaquim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gama-Rodrigues
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cecconello
authors.forename: Venâncio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: Rui Manuel
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Reis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D049488:Phosphatidylethanolamine Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C511482:PEBP1 protein, human; D049488:Phosphatidylethanolamine Binding Protein