title: Expression of IFITM1 as a prognostic biomarker in resected gastric and esophageal adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is an increasing amount of reports on IFITM1 (interferon-inducible transmembrane protein 1) in various malignancies. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of IFITM1 and its prognostic significance in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tissue samples were obtained from a consecutive cohort of 174 patients surgically treated between 2006 and 2010 for gastroesophageal (gastric, gastroesophageal junction and esophageal) adenocarcinoma, not subjected to neoadjuvant therapy. Expression of IFITM1 was examined using immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays of primary tumors and paired samples of adjacent normal epithelium, intestinal metaplasia and lymph node metastases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Expression of IFITM1 was significantly elevated in primary tumors and lymph node metastases compared to adjacent normal epithelium and intestinal metaplasia, regardless of tumor location. Overexpression of IFITM1 was associated with M0-disease (no distant metastases). In gastric cancer IFITM1 expression was significantly associated with improved TTR (time to recurrence) in Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression, both in the unadjusted analysis (HR 0.33, 95 % CI 0.12-0.88) and in the adjusted analysis (HR 0.32, 95 % CI 0.12-0.87) but there was no significant impact on OS (overall survival). In esophageal adenocarcinoma expression of IFITM1 had no impact on TTR or OS in Kaplan-Meier-analyses, but in the adjusted Cox regression IFITM1 expression had a negative impact on both TTR (HR 3.05, 95 % CI 1.09-8.53) and OS (HR 2.71, 95 % CI 1.11-6.67).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IFITM1 was overexpressed in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma and associated with M0-disease. In gastric cancer IFITM1 expression had a positive impact on TTR but in esophageal cancer it seemed to have an adverse impact on survival. The reason for the diverging prognostic impact of IFITM1 in esophageal and gastric cancer is unclear and warrants further studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Oncology and Pathology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Borg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Oncology and Pathology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Charlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hedner
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Oncology and Pathology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaber
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Oncology and Pathology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nodin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Oncology and Pathology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fristedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Oncology and Pathology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jirström
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Oncology and Pathology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eberhard
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Oncology and Pathology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Johnsson
keywords: Adenocarcinoma; Esophageal neoplasms; IFITM1; Prognosis; Stomach neoplasms