Mingxia Jiang1, Ling Qi2, Kexin Jin3, Lisha Li4, Yiming Wu5, Dongfeng Song6, Junqing Gan7, Mei Huang8, Yanjing Li9, Chengxin Song10. 1. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: jmx960103@126.com. 2. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: qiling315416@126.com. 3. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: jinjin9702@163.com. 4. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: li_li_sha@126.com. 5. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: wyimingwym@126.com. 6. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: songdf97@126.com. 7. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: gan_junqing@163.com. 8. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: 2249333813@qq.com. 9. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, PR China. Electronic address: liyanjing_hmu@hrbmu.edu.cn. 10. Department of Colorectal Surgery, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin 150081, China. Electronic address: scxqy@163.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K) has been reported to be a potential oncogenic factor in many human cancers, its usefulness as a clinical prognostic biomarker for gastric cancer has not been investigated. METHODS: In this study, data about 540 patients with stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) were analyzed from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases to determine the expression of eEF2K. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blots, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were also performed to determine the clinical significance of eEF2K expression in 96 postoperative patients with gastric cancer. Among the 96 patients, 36 had low expression of eEF2K and 60 had high expression. RESULTS: Analysis of the TCGA and GEO datasets revealed that eEF2K expression was significantly higher in the STAD tissue samples than in the non-tumorous gastric tissues. IHC, western blots, and RT-PCR confirmed these findings. The high expression level of eEF2K was found to be related to the presence of lymph node metastasis (p = 0.002). Moreover, multivariate analysis showed that eEF2K was an independent indicator of prognosis for overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-2.79; p = 0.03) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.66, 95% CI = 0.997-2.765; p = 0.052) in patients with surgically resected STAD. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our findings suggest that eEF2K is a clinical indicator of metastatic and prognostic significance for STAD survival and could serve as a potential therapeutic target.
BACKGROUND: Although eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K) has been reported to be a potential oncogenic factor in many human cancers, its usefulness as a clinical prognostic biomarker for gastric cancer has not been investigated. METHODS: In this study, data about 540 patients with stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) were analyzed from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases to determine the expression of eEF2K. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blots, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were also performed to determine the clinical significance of eEF2K expression in 96 postoperative patients with gastric cancer. Among the 96 patients, 36 had low expression of eEF2K and 60 had high expression. RESULTS: Analysis of the TCGA and GEO datasets revealed that eEF2K expression was significantly higher in the STAD tissue samples than in the non-tumorous gastric tissues. IHC, western blots, and RT-PCR confirmed these findings. The high expression level of eEF2K was found to be related to the presence of lymph node metastasis (p = 0.002). Moreover, multivariate analysis showed that eEF2K was an independent indicator of prognosis for overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-2.79; p = 0.03) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.66, 95% CI = 0.997-2.765; p = 0.052) in patients with surgically resected STAD. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our findings suggest that eEF2K is a clinical indicator of metastatic and prognostic significance for STAD survival and could serve as a potential therapeutic target.