Abstract
BACKGROUND: Overall survival remains unsatisfactory in stage II/III gastric cancer, even after curative resection and adjuvant chemotherapy. Tensin 4 (TNS4), a cell adhesion factor, is associated with cancer-cell motility and migration. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We examined the clinical significance of TNS4 gene expression in 134 patients with stage II/III gastric cancer who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy with S-1. TNS4 gene expression in surgical specimens was measured by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: TNS4 gene expression levels were significantly higher in cancer tissue than in adjacent normal mucosa. High TNS4 gene expression was associated with significantly poorer 5-year overall survival than was low expression. On multivariate analysis, TNS4 gene expression was an independent prognostic factor. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of the TNS4 gene is a useful independent predictor of outcomes in patients with stage II/III gastric cancer who undergo surgery and receive adjuvant chemotherapy with S-1.