Immunohistochemical staining of versican as a potential marker for predicting lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers and has a high mortality rate. Lymph node metastasis is a key determinant of prognosis, and an essential mechanism involved in metastasis is the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In this study, we aimed to assess the diagnostic role of versican (VCAN), a molecule participating in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, on the detection of metastatic cancer.