Expression and clinical significance of DiGeorge critical region 8 in gastric cancer

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of DiGeorge critical region 8 (DGCR8) in gastric cancer. Methods Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect DGCR8 protein expression level in 134 cases of gastric cancer tissues, normal mucosae and lymph nodes. Results The expression level of DGCR8 in gastric cancer tissues (90 cases, P=0.000) and metastatic lymph nodes (70 cases, P=0.000) was significantly higher than that in normal mucosae (40 cases). The up-regulated DGCR8 was related to serosal invasion (65/25 cases, P=0.042), lymph node metastasis (66/24 cases, P=0.015), tumor location (55/35 cases, P=0.033), remote metastasis (21/69 cases, P=0.036), clinical stage (64/26 cases, P=0.024), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA, 58/32 cases, P=0.005) and survival time (39.8/48.7 months, P=0.005). Furthermore, DGCR8 was an important independent prognosis factor for gastric cancer (P=0.013). Conclusion Up-regulated DGCR8 might play an important role in occurrence, progression, metastasis and prognosis of gastric cancer. Key words: DiGeorge critical region 8; Gastric cancer; Prognosis