Low Expression of FBXO45 Is Associated with Gastric Cancer Progression and Poor Prognosis

Abstract

Background: F-Box protein 45 (FBXO45) is reported to be associated with cancer aggressiveness. We investigated the relationship between FBXO45 and clinicopathological factors in gastric cancer (GC).

Materials and methods: We used immunohistochemistry to investigate FBXO45 expression in 104 GC samples; the prognostic value of FBXO45 was also calculated.

Results: FBXO45 levels in GC were higher than in normal tissues. Patients with relatively low FBXO45 expression (n=58) had increased cancer progression and poorer prognosis than those with high expression (n=46). Low FBXO45 expression was an independent negative prognostic factor in patients with GC. Using the public Kaplan-Meier plotter database, we showed that survival in patients with low expression of FBXO45 in GC was shorter than that in those with high FBXO45 expression, regardless of lymph node metastasis.

Conclusion: A low FBXO45 expression level in GC tissues may be a powerful predictor of poor prognosis. FBXO45 might, therefore, be a promising candidate for a molecular targeted therapy in GC.

Keywords: F-box protein 45; Gastric cancer; immunohistochemistry; prognostic factors.