title: Clinical significance of platelet derived growth factor-C and -D in gastric cancer.
abstract: Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-C and PDGF-D are frequently upregulated in human cancers and play important roles in tumor progression, angiogenesis and metastasis. However, the distribution, frequency and prognostic value of PDGF-C and PDGF-D expression in gastric cancer have not been clarified. The present study evaluated the association between expression of PDGF-C and PDGF-D, clinicopathological factors and outcomes, in patients with gastric cancer. Gastric adenocarcinoma tumor samples were obtained from 204 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy between 2003 and 2007. The expression of PDGF-C and PDGF-D was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining. High expression of PDGF-C and PDGF-D was detected in 114 (56%) and 151 (74%) tumors, respectively. PDGF-D expression was significantly associated with tumor depth (P=0.039), histopathology (P<0.01), tumor stage (P=0.01) and recurrence (P<0.01), whereas PDGF-C expression correlated only with histopathology (P=0.05). High PDGF-D expression was also associated with significantly shorter relapse-free survival (RFS) time (P<0.01), whilst high PDGF-C expression was associated with marginally, but not significantly, shorter RFS (P=0.10). On multivariate analysis, high PDGF-D expression was determined to be an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio, 3.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.20-9.4; P=0.02). These findings indicate that high PDGF-D expression is strongly associated with tumor progression, recurrence, distant metastasis and poor outcomes in patients with gastric cancer. PDGF-D may therefore be an independent prognostic factor and a novel therapeutic target.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Norihito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Mikito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inokuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Translational Oncology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugita
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugihara
keywords: gastric cancer; platelet-derived growth factor C; platelet-derived growth factor D; prognosis