Background/aim: 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.
Materials and 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.
Conclusion: Versican expression in tumor epithelial cells predicts a good prognosis for gastric cancer patients.
Keywords: Epithelial cells; stomach neoplasm; stromal cells; versican.
Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.