The anti-apoptotic and prognostic value of fibroblast growth factor 9 in gastric cancer.

// Chuanli Ren 1, 6 , Hui Chen 2 , Chongxu Han 1 , Deyuan Fu 3 , Fuan Wang 4 , Daxin Wang 1 , Li Ma 5 , Lin Zhou 1 , Dongsheng Han 1 1 Clinical Medical Testing Laboratory, Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital and Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China 2 Geriatric Medicine, Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital and Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China 3 Breast Oncology Surgery, Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital and Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China 4 Department of Interventional Radiography, Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital and Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China 5 Laboratory of Hematology, Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital and Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China 6 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of Modern Toxicology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China Correspondence to: Chuanli Ren, email: renchl@163.com Keywords: gastric cancer, FGF9, apoptosis, prognosis Received: October 10, 2015     Accepted: April 22, 2016     Published: May 2, 2016 ABSTRACT Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 9 is a member of the FGF family, which promotes carcinogenesis in some solid tumours. However, its biological and prognostic significance in gastric cancer (GC) is unclear. We examined FGF9 expression in 180 GC and corresponding non-tumorous gastric tissue samples by immunohistochemistry and evaluated its role in predicting tumour prognosis. Knockdown of FGF9 by siRNA inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in GC cell lines. Fifty of the 180 GC specimens (27.8%) had high FGF9 protein expression, whereas decreased or unchanged expression was observed in 130 cases (72.2%). High FGF9 expression was a significant predictor of poor survival (28.1 vs. 55.8 months, P < 0.001). After stratification according to AJCC stage, FGF9 remained a significant predictor of shorter survival in stage II (30.6 vs. 64.9 months, P < 0.001) and stage III GC (29.7 vs. 58.9 months, P < 0.001). Multivariate and univariate analysis showed that higher expression of FGF9 can be used as a predictor for poor prognosis (HR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.97–4.41; P < 0.001; and HR, 2.94; 95% CI, 2.01–4.31; P < 0.001, respectively). FGF9 may provide the anti-apoptotic function and be useful as a novel independent marker for evaluating GC prognosis