title: Versican expression in tumor epithelial cells is correlated with a good prognosis in gastric cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Versican expression has been reported to have prognostic value in several cancers. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic significance of versican expression in gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 105 gastric cancer patients who received gastrectomy were included in the study. Versican expression in the epithelial and stromal components of the tumors was determined by immunohistochemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Versican was expressed in 21.0% of tumor epithelial cells and 44.8% of stromal cells. Patients with versican expression in tumor epithelial cells had significantly better 5-year disease-free (p=0.021) and overall (p=0.034) survival rates, whereas versican expression in stromal cells was not associated with disease-free (p=0.532) and overall (p=0.876) survival. Multivariate analysis showed that versican expression in tumor epithelial cells was an independent prognostic indicator for better clinical outcome in disease-free and overall survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Versican expression in tumor epithelial cells predicts a good prognosis for gastric cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Nam Seok
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea painkiller9@catholic.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Han Hong
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chan-Kwon
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hae Myung
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Jeon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D053675:Versicans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D053675:Versicans
keywords: Epithelial cells; stomach neoplasm; stromal cells; versican