| Objective:Gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.China is a high-risk area for gastric cancer,and is the second most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths.Thus,the elucidation of key molecules and pathways involved in the occurrence and progression of gastric cancer that contributes to making early diagnoses of gastric cancer and developing molecularly targeted therapies for patients with advanced gastric cancer.Forkhead box k1(FOXK1),a member of the FOX transcription factor family,has been documented to play pivotal roles in cell proliferation,cell growth,and metabolism.Recently,increasing evidence indicated the significance of FOXK1 in tumorigenesis as an oncogene.FOXK1 is dysregulated in various human cancers,including gastric cancer.There is much evidence that high expression of FOXK1 is associated with the growth and invasion of gastrointestinal tumors and can be used as a therapeutic target for patients with gastrointestinal cancer.?-Catenin is a crucial multifunctional protein,the abnormal expression of?-Catenin is closely related to the depth of invasion and lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer.In addition,cell migration is a crucial link in tumor invasion and metastasis.A large body of evidence has shown that epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)can promote the migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells.In recent years,EMT has become a hotspot in the field of tumor invasion and metastasis.Studies have demonstrated that FOXK1 promotes invasion and metastasis ofgastric cancer cells by inducing EMT.In addition,many studies have shown that Wnt/?-Catenin pathway is one of the most important pathways that involved in the development of EMT in gastric cancer.Until recent years,studies have suggested that FOXK1 may play a role in tumorigenesis and development by regulating Wnt/?-Catenin pathway;So far,however,little research has been done to determine if there is an ongoing relationship between FOXK1 and?-Catenin in the occurrence and progression of gastric cancer.To investigate whether there is correlation between FOXK1 and?-Catenin proteins,and their association with clinicopathological features in gastric cancer.The aim of this study is to provide clues and evidence for early diagnoses of gastric cancer and developing molecularly targeted therapies for patients with advanced gastric cancer.Methods:This study retrospectively selected 108 cases of pathologically confirmed archived gastric cancer specimens and corresponding cancerous tissue specimens obtained from gastric cancer radical resection and lymph node dissection from gastrointestinal surgery in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January2014 to December 2014.The expression of FOXK1 and?-Catenin was detected by immunohistochemical staining in 108 cases of gastric cancer and their corresponding precancerous tissues.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 19.0.Enumeration data comparison was performed using?~2 test.The correlation between FOXK1 and?-Catenin expression in gastric cancer was analyzed by Spearman rank correlation analysis.Results:The positive expression rate of FOXK1 and?-Catenin in gastric cancer was significantly higher than that in their corresponding precancerous tissues(?~2=45.0658,22.5753,P<0.001).The expression of FOXK1 was not correlated with the patient's gender and age,tumor size and TNM staging(?~2=0.7884,0.0406,0.5217,0.0723;P>0.05),but correlated with pathological degree of tumor differentiation,serosal invasion,vascular invasion and lymph node metastasis(?~2=6.3496,4.4112,4.1395,P<0.05;?~2=7.5523,P<0.01).The expression of?-Catenin was not correlated with the patient's gender and age,tumor size,TNM staging and pathological degree of tumor differentiation(?~2=0.1225?1.0443?0.0463?0.2552?1.3523,P>0.05),but correlated with serosal invasion,vascular invasion andand lymph node metastasis(?~2=4.2389,4.2875,P<0.05;?~2=7.2868,P<0.01).There was a positive correlation between FOXK1 and?-Catenin protein expression in gastric cancer(rs=0.2148,P<0.05).Conclusion:FOXK1 and?-Catenin proteins may play crucial roles in pathogenesis and development of gastric cancer.The high expression of FOXK1 is positively correlated with the positive expression of?-Catenin protein,both are closely associated with invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer;FOXK1 may induce EMT by activating?-Catenin pathway to promote invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer.FOXK1 may be the potential target genes for treatment of gastric cancer. |
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