Overexpression of HOXB7 is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer

Previous studies have indicated that the homeobox gene HOXB7 is overexpressed in certain cancers, which promotes tumorigenesis. However, less is known about the association between the HOXB7 gene and gastric cancer. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between the expression level of HOXB7 and gastric cancer. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of the homeobox B7 (HOXB7) RNA and protein, respectively. In addition, the association between the expression of HOXB7 and the clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the survival rates, and the COX proportional hazards model was used to investigate univariate and multivariate analyses. The expression level of HOXB7 RNA and protein was significantly elevated in cancerous tissues compared with the corresponding normal mucosa. Increased expression of HOXB7 was significantly associated with tumor size (P=0.01), T stage (P<0.001) and advanced Union for International Cancer Control stage (P=0.003). In addition, patients with positive HOXB7 expression possessed an evident lower overall survival and disease-free survival rate compared with patients with tumors that did not express HOXB7. Furthermore, univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that HOXB7 served as a significant independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS in patients with gastric cancer. The present data indicate that the HOXB7 gene may play an important role in the process of gastric tumorigenesis, and also indicate that HOXB7 may be an important determinant of patient prognosis in gastric cancer.