Objective: Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), as the main component of caveolae, has complex roles in tumourigenesis in human malignancies. We investigated Cav-1 in primary and metastatic tumor cells of gastric cancer (GC) and its association with clinical outcomes.
Methods: We retrieved 145 cases of GC who had undergone curative gastrectomy. The expression levels of Cav-1 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, and its association with clinicopathological parameters and patient survival was analyzed.
Results: High expression of Cav-1 protein of the GC in the stomach and metastatic lymph node was 12.4% (18/145) and 16.5% (15/91). In the multivariate analysis, tumoral Cav-1 protein in metastatic lymph node showed prognostic significance for relapse-free survival (RFS, HR, 3.934; 95% CI, 1.882-8.224; P = 0.001) and cancer-specific survival outcome (CSS, HR, 2.681; 95% CI, 1.613-8.623; P = 0.002). Among the GCs with metastatic lymph node, it remained as a strong indicator of poor prognosis for RFS (HR, 3.136; 95% CI, 1.444-6.810; P = 0.004) and CSS (HR, 2.509; 95% CI, 1.078-5.837; P = 0.032).
Conclusion: High expression of tumoral Cav-1 protein in metastatic lymph node is associated with unfavorable prognosis of curative resected GC, indicating the potential of novel prognostic markers.