The Role of Latent Transforming Growth Factor β Binding Protein 2 (LTBP2) in the Diagnosis and Stage Discrimination of Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer is a major health problem all over the world. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effect of Latent Transforming Growth Factor β Binding Protein 2 (LTBP2) on the diagnosis and stage discrimination of gastric cancer. Between May 2019 and October 2019, ninety patients, who were diagnosed with gastric cancer as the patient group, and forty-five healthy volunteer (samples were also taken from health volunteers to test LTBP2 usability) as the control group were included in the study. From each patient, 3 ml of peripheral blood sample was collected. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit for human LTBP2 were used for the detection of serum samples. Data on patient demographics (age, gender) and serum LTBP2 levels were recorded in both control and gastric cancer groups. In gastric cancer patients, serum LTBP2 levels were further analyzed with respect to tumor stages and tumor size. The mean LTBP2 levels were 14.78 SD4.54 and 2.79 SD0.93 in the gastric cancer patients and control group, respectively. The LTBP2 levels were significantly correlated with advanced lymph node status, depth of invasion, and TNM stage (p < 0.001). In addition, when the tumor diameter was over 30 mm, LTBP2 levels increased significantly. Increased level of LTBP2 in gastric tumor tissue is consistently associated with advanced gastric cancer. From the result of this study, LTBP2 can be a diagnostic marker and can be used to differentiate cancer stages (to distinguish stage I-III from stage IV). Further emphasis should be put on the integration of these markers and validation in larger cohorts for the prediction of gastric cancer.