Expression of ORAOV1, CD133 and WWOX correlate with metastasis and prognosis in gastric adenocarcinoma.

Background: Oral cancer overexpressed 1 (ORAOV1) which is a novel candidate oncogene is a useful biomarker of metastasis and prognosis in various cancers. CD133 which is a biomarker of cancer stem cells is overexpressed in many cancers and promotes cancer cells growth and metastasis. WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) which is a suppressor gene of tumor can inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis in various cancers. However, associations among ORAOV1, CD133, and WWOX and their clinicopathological significance in gastric adenocarcionma (GAC) are unclear. In this study, we analyzed associations among ORAOV1, CD133, and WWOX in GAC, and their respective associations with clinicopathological characteristics and survival in GAC.

Method: Positive expression of ORAOV1, CD133, and WWOX in 236 whole GAC tissue samples were detected by immunohistochemistry staining. Patients' clinical data were also collected.

Results: Levels of ORAOV1 and CD133 were significantly higher, and levels of WWOX significantly lower, in GAC tissues than in normal gastric tissues. Levels of ORAOV1 and CD133 were positively associated with tumor grade, invasion of depth, lymph node metastasis (LNM), and tumor-node metastasis (TNM) stages, and inversely with patients overall survival time; levels of WWOX was negatively correlated with tumor grade, invasion of depth, LNM, and TNM stages, and the WWOX-positive subgroup had significantly longer overall survival time than did the WWOX-negative subgroup. In multivariate analysis, high expression of ORAOV1 and CD133, invasion of depth, and TNM stages, and low expression of WWOX were potential to be independent prognostic factors for overall survival time in patients with GAC.

Conclusions: The expression of ORAOV1, CD133, and WWOX represent promising biomarkers for metastasis and prognosis, and potential therapeutic targets for GAC.