Caveolin 1 Expression in Gastric Carcinoma: Its Regulatory Mechanism and Prognostic Value

Abstract

Background: Caveolin 1 gene is known as a tumor promoter or suppressor depending on the tumor type and/or tumor stage. We aimed to investigate the clinical significance of caveolin 1 protein (Cav1) expression in gastric cancer (GC). Methods Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue array slides containing 405 GC specimens. The relationships between Cav1 expression and clinicopathological factors, prognosis, focal adhesion kinase (FAK) expression, mucin phenotypes and p53 expression were analyzed. Results: In non-neoplastic gastric mucosa, Cav1 was not expressed in the epithelial compartment. In GC, positive staining of Cav1 was shown in 22 (5.4%) of 405 cases and was significantly higher in advanced GC group than in early GC group (p = 0.037). Also, it was significantly associated with advanced pTNM stage (p = 0.027) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.018). Moreover, survival analysis showed that Cav1 expression was an independent prognostic factor of poor survival (p = 0.028). In addition, the expression of Cav1 was positively correlated with that of FAK (p = 0.034). Conclusions: These results indicate that the expression of Cav1 is significantly correlated with cancer progression and poor prognosis in GC. Thus, Cav1 could supplement its protein expression for the diagnosis and treatment of GC.