Expression of ZIP4 Protein in Gastric Cancer and Its Clinical Significance

Purpose To investigate the expression of ZIP4 protein in gastric cancer and its clinical significance. Methods Expressions of ZIP4 protein in cancer tissues and cancer adjacent tissues were detected immunohistochemically in 70 cases with gastric cancer,and their relationships with clinicopathological features and prognosis were analyzed. Results The positive rates of ZIP4 expression in gastric cancer tissues and cancer adjacent tissues were 52.9%(37/70) and 92.9%(65/70) respectively. Lower expression of ZIP4 in gastric cancer tissue than that in cancer adjacent tissues was found in 68.6%(48/70) of patients. Expression of ZIP4 did not correlate to age,gender,tumor size,location,invasive depth or lymph nodes metastasis (P0.05),but correlated to the Lauren’s type and TNM staging (P0.05). Both univariate or multivariate analysis revealed that invasive depth,lymph nodes metastasis,Lauren’s type,TNM stage and ZIP4 expression were independent predictors of prognosis(P0.05). Patients with lower ZIP4 expression resulted worse 5-year survival. Conclusion Expression of ZIP4 in gastric cancer relates to the Lauren’s type, clinical stage and prognosis,and it might be useful to evaluate the biological behavior and prognosis for gastric cancer.