THE EXPRESSION OF PERIOSTIN IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF GASTRIC CANCER AND ITS CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Introduction: Periostin (POSTN) is an important extracellular matrix protein (ECMP), which plays an important role in the occurrence and development of tumors. This study aims to investigate the expression of POSTN in different stages of gastric cancer and its clinical significance. Materials and methods: From January 1, 2014 to January 31, 2018, 120 tumor tissue specimens pathologically diagnosed as gastric cancer were collected in our hospital, and another 20 normal gastric cancer-adjacent tissues were taken as controls. The immunohistochemistry method was used to detect the expression of POSTN in gastric mucosal tissues, and the relationship between the expression of POSTN and the clinicopathological characteristics and clinical prognosis of gastric cancer was analyzed. Results: The expression rates of POSTN in gastric cancer tissue and normal gastric cancer adjacent tissues were 73.33% (88/120) and 0.00% (0/100), respectively. In the different TNM stages of gastric cancer, the high expression rate of POSTN in TNM I and II gastric cancer tissues was significantly higher than that of TNM III and IV gastric cancers. The expression of POSTN in gastric cancer tissue was related to the pathological grade, clinical stage, and lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer (P<0.05), but not related to the age, gender, and tumor size of gastric cancer patients (P>0.05). The recurrence rate of POSTN strongly positive (+++) patients was higher than that of membrane protein negative (-) patients and weakly positive (+) patients. The PFS and OS of gastric cancer patients with high expression of POSTN were significantly lower than those with low expression. Conclusion: The high expression of POSTN is closely related to the occurrence and development of gastric cancer and the clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer. It is of great significance for predicting tumor recurrence and evaluating poor prognosis.