Solube E-cadherin is an independent pretherapeutic factor for long term survival in gastric cancer

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Gastric cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world, but a satisfactory tumor marker is currently unavailable for gastric cancer. Soluble E-cadherin has recently been found to have prognostic value in gastric cancer.We aim at evaluating whether pretherapeutic serum soluble E-cadherin is an independent factor predicting long-term survival in gastric cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred and sixteen patients with histology proven gastric adenocarcinoma were included. Pretherapeutic serum was collected and soluble E-cadherin was assayed using a commercially available ELISA kit. The patients were followed up prospectively at the outpatient clinic. RESULTS: There were 75 men and 41 women with a mean age of 66 ± 14 years. Forty-eight percent of tumors were located in the gastric antrum. The median survival was 11 months. The mean pretherapeutic value of soluble E-cadherin was 9159 ng/mL (range, 6002–10025 ng/mL), and that of CEA was 11 ng/mL (range, 0.3–4895 ng/mL). On multivariate analysis, soluble E-cadherin is an independent factor predicting long-term survival. Ninety percent of patients with serum level of E-cadherin greater than 10000 ng/mL had survival less than 3 years (P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Soluble E-cadherin is a potentially valuable pretherapeutic prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer.