High expression of SMARCC1 predicts poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients

The switching/sucrose non-fermenting (SWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complexes use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to remodel nucleosomes and modulate transcription, which plays an important role in tumors by regulating epigenetics. SWI/SNF Related, Matrix Associated, Actin Dependent Regulator of Chromatin, Subfamily C, Member 1 (SMARCC1) has dual roles in tumors but its role in gastric cancer remains unclear. This study was aimed to find the role of SMARCC1 in gastric cancer. SMARCC1 expression across various tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas was analyzed using TIMER 2.0 (http://timer.comp-genomics.org/). SMARCC1 mRNA expression profiles in gastric cell lines and gastric tissues were compared with normal tissues and analyzed in the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, Oncomine, and Gene Expression Omnibus databases. SMARCC1 mRNA and protein were then examined in fresh gastric cancer tissues and compared with adjacent normal tissues using quantitative real-time PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. Associations between SMARCC1 expression and clinicopathological factors, overall survival, and disease-free survival were further evaluated using 130 gastric cancer samples harvested from patients after radical total gastrectomy or subtotal gastrectomy at the Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (Changsha, China). SMARCC1 was frequently upregulated in gastric cancer cells and tissues. SMARCC1 overexpression was significantly associated with tumor size (P=0.002), differentiation (P=0.006), depth of invasion (P=0.001), lymph node involvement (P=0.016), and TNM stage (P=0.007). Furthermore, univariate and multivariate Cox analysis revealed that high SMARCC1 expression, depth invasion, lymph node involvement, and TNM stage were independent risk factors for both overall and disease-free survival in gastric cancer patients (all P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that high SMARCC1 expression predicted poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients (P < 0.01). High SMARCC1 expression contributes to poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients. SMARCC1 may be a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in gastric cancer.