High expression of EphA3 (erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular A3) in gastric cancer is associated with metastasis and poor survival.

BACKGROUND

As the major subfamily of receptor tyrosine, erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular (Eph) receptor has been related to progression and prognosis in different types of tumors. However, the role and mechanism of EPHA3 in gastric cancer is still not well understood.

METHODS

Specimen were collected from 202 patients who underwent gastric resection for gastric adenocarcinoma. The expression of EphA3 was studied using immunohistochemistry. We analyzed the clinicopathological factors and prognostic relevance of EphA3 expression in gastric cancer.

RESULTS

High expression of EphA3 was associated with male predominance ( = 0.031), differentiated histology ( < 0.001), depth of tumor ( = 0.002), lymph node metastasis ( = 0.001), distant metastasis ( = 0.021), liver metastasis ( = 0.024), advanced stage ( < 0.001), and high HER2 expression ( = 0.017). Relapse-free survival (RFS) was significantly worse in patients with high expression of EphA3 than in those with low expression of EphA3 ( = 0.014). Multivariate analysis for RFS showed that depth of tumor [hazard ratio (HR) 9.333, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.183-39.911,  = 0.003] and lymph node metastasis [hazard ratio (HR) 5.734, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.349-13.997,  < 0.001] were independent prognostic factors.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that high expression EphA3 may participate in metastasis and worse survival.