Clinical significance of ECT2 expression in tissue and serum of gastric cancer patients.

The ECT2 (epithelial cell transforming sequence 2) oncogene acted as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for RhoGTPases, and regulates cytokinesis; thus, it may play a role in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. In this study, we investigated the expression ECT2 gene in tissues and serum of gastric cancer patients to explore its clinical significance. ECT2 mRNA expression levels in tissues and serum were examined by RT-PCR, and ECT2 protein expression in tissue was evaluated by Western blot, and was further validated by immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at serum level. ECT2 level was significantly increased in the GC tissues and serum compared to normal control. ECT2 expression was positively correlated with the histologic differentiation, stages of TNM, and lymph node metastasis in GC (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that ECT2 plays an important role during GC progression and it may become a new diagnostic marker and therapeutic molecular target for management of GC.