Expression and prognostic value of nuclear HOXB9 in gastric cancer tissue

GU Yong; YANG Yan; SHA Sumei; LI Na

Abstract：Objective To investigate the expression of HOXB9 in gastric cancer tissues and its correlation with clinicopatho?logical features, and to analyze its prognostic value in patients with gastric cancer. Methods Immunohistochemical SP method was used to detect the expression of HOXB9 in 190 gastric cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues. And the correlation of its expression with clinicopathological features and prognosis was studied. Results The positive rate of HOXB9 was 95?8%( 182/190) and 45?3%(86/190) in adjacent normal tissue and gastric cancer tissue(P<0?001). The expression of HOXB9 was associated with histological differentiation, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis,but not with gender and age. The median overall survival( OS) of gastric cancer patients was 31 months, and the patients with HOXB9 positive expression was 26?0 months, 1ower than 36?0 months of patients with negative expression( P<0?005) . Cox proportional hazards model revealed that HOXB9 expression was an independent prognostic factor for postoperative survival of gastric cancer. Conclusion HOXB9 may be involved in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer. HOXB9 may serve as an prognostic biomarker for the survival of patients with gastric cancer.