The expression and clinical significance of epithelial cell adhesion molecule and Claudin18 in gastric cancer

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of epithelial cell adhesion molecule(EpCAM)and Claudin-18 in gastric cancer. Methods Surgical specimens of gastric cancer were taken from 64 patients.The histological diagnostic criteria were based on WHO standards.Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect expression levels of EpCAM and Claudin-18 in all samples.The relationship between the expression of EpCAM and Claudin-18 and clinicopathological parameters of gastric cancer was analyzed.Correlations of the prognosis of gastric cancer patients with EpCAM and Claudin-18 expression were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results The positive expression rate of EpCAM was elevated with the increase in tumor size and the occurrence of distant metastasis(χ2=4.526 and 36.090, P=0.033 and 0.000). There were significant differences in Claudin-18 protein expression among different age, TNM stage, growth pattern, depth of invasion and distant metastasis patients(all P 0.05). Conclusions EpCAM and Claudin-18 are closely related to the invasiveness of gastric cancer, but abnormally high levels of EpCAM and Claudin-18 are not independent risk factors for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Key words: Stomach neoplasms; Cell adhesion molecules; Connexins