title: Abnormal amphiregulin expression correlates with gastric cancer prognosis.
abstract: Gastric cancer (GC) is a global health issue with a high mortality rate. Early diagnosis and tracking of GC is a challenge due to a lack of reliable tools. Amphiregulin (AREG) is a member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family that activates growth signaling upon binding of EGF receptors. Elevated AREG expression is associated with various pathological conditions, including cancer. Here, we investigated whether increased AREG expression is a disease indicator and/or prognostic biomarker for GC. We used tissue microarray and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to assess AREG expression in clinical tissue specimens at various stages of GC and a conducted bioinformatics analysis to evaluate the value of AREG over-expression as a GC biomarker. We found that both mRNA and protein expression of AREG were increased in the tissues of GC patients when compared to tissues from non-cancer patients or normal tissues. High expression of AREG was also associated with GC clinicopathological characteristics and poor survival. Thus, over-expression of AREG could serve as a novel GC biomarker, and active surveillance of its expression could be a novel approach to GC diagnosis and monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Center for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Zhangjiagang Ao Yang Hospital, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.|Department of Oncology, Zhangjiagang Ao Yang Hospital, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Huai'an Hospital Affiliated of Xuzhou Medical College and Huai'an Second People's Hospital, Huai'an, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Huijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Center for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Zhangjiagang Ao Yang Hospital, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Daguang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Center for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Zhangjiagang Ao Yang Hospital, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Sijie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Zhangjiagang Ao Yang Hospital, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Guipeng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Huadong Medical Institute of Biotechniques, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Center for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Zhangjiagang Ao Yang Hospital, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.|School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Jiangsu, China.|The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Zhangjiagang Ao Yang Hospital, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.|Department of Pathology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Antibody Technique of Ministry of Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.|Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center For Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Zhenqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D066258:Amphiregulin / Q000235:genetics*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D066258:Amphiregulin; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: amphiregulin; gastric cancer; prognosis