Recently,
stathmin 1 has been proposed to function as an oncogene based on some relevant studies in multiple types of human
cancers. However, the role of
stathmin 1 in
gastric cancer carcinogenesis has not been elucidated yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of
stathmin 1 as well as its association with overall survival of
gastric cancer patients. The expression of
stathmin 1 was detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting in
gastric cancer and adjacent nontumor tissues. In addition,
stathmin 1 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in
paraffin samples from 210 primary
gastric cancer patients. The expression levels of
stathmin 1
mRNA and
protein in
gastric cancer tissues were both significantly higher than those in adjacent nontumor tissues. In addition, the expression of
stathmin 1 is correlated with Lauren's classification, depth of invasion,
lymph node metastases, and
tumor node
metastasis (TNM) stage (all P < 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that high
stathmin 1 expression was associated with poor prognosis in
gastric cancer patients (P = 0.040). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that only
lymph node metastasis and TNM stage were the independent prognostic indicators for
gastric cancer.
Stathmin 1 expression status is not an independent prognostic factor for patients with
gastric cancer. Further subgroup analysis revealed that
stathmin 1 expression was significantly correlated with prognosis in diffuse type
gastric cancer. This research showed that the
stathmin 1 overexpression might play an important role in the pathogenesis and subsequent progression of
gastric cancer.
Stathmin 1 could also be a potential therapeutic target in
gastric cancer, especially for diffuse type
gastric cancer.