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Abstract: Background: Kindlin-2 has been confirmed as an essential element of bidirectional integrin signaling. In recent years, the relationship between Kindlin-2 expression and cancers has been a focus of interest. However, the relationship between Kindlin-2 expression in gastric cancer and tumor invasion, metastasis, and the outcome of patients have not been studied. Methods: Kindlin-2 expression at protein and RNA levels were detected by Western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction in 40 pairs of gastric cancer samples. In addition, the correlations between Kindlin-2 expression and clinicopathologic factors as well as the prognosis of the patients were analyzed. Multivariate Cox regression was used to study the effect of Kindlin-2 expression on overall and progression-free survival. Results: We found that Kindlin-2 was up-regulated both at RNA (P = .027) and protein levels (P = .014) in gastric cancer tissues. Tumor samples with high Kindlin-2 expression (Kindlin-2/β-actin:tumor tissue/paraneoplastic tissue, ≥2) was observed in 55% of the patients. Moreover, Kindlin-2 expression had a significant positive correlation with tumor stromal invasion (P = .014), lymph node metastasis (P = .007), and TNM stage (P = .014). Patients with high Kindlin-2 expression had significantly poorer overall survival (P = .012) and progression-free survival (P = .012). High Kindlin-2 expression was an independent risk factor of progression-free survival (hazard ratio, 5.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–3.3; P = .032). Conclusions: Kindlin-2 may play an important role in the development of gastric cancer and it is a potential factor that could be used to evaluate the outcome of gastric cancer. Kindlin-2 may shed new light on evaluating the prognosis and targeted therapy of gastric cancer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The effect of the number of lymph nodes harvested on the long-term survival of gastric cancer according to Tumor, Node, and Metastasis (TNM) stage and tumor location remains unclear., Methods: Patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer (1998 to 2009) were evaluated retrospectively (1,637 patients). The patients' clinicopathological variables, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS) were recorded. The effect of the number of lymph nodes harvested on survival was analyzed according to TNM stage and tumor location., Results: Harvest of greater than 30 lymph nodes was associated with significantly better OS and PFS than less than or equal to 14 lymph nodes, but no significant difference was observed between less than or equal to 14 and 15 to 29 lymph nodes harvested. The number of lymph nodes harvested was significantly associated with the OS or/and PFS of late stage cancer (N+, T3 to T4, and stage III to IV), harvest of greater than 30 lymph nodes brought significantly better survival compared with the other 2 groups. A higher number of harvested lymph nodes was associated with significantly better PFS for gastric cancer of the body of stomach, but not for proximal, distal, and whole stomach cancer. When the tumor was located in the body of the stomach, the PFS was better with 15 to 29 lymph nodes than less than 14 lymph nodes; however, the OS and PFS were not significantly different between greater than 30 lymph nodes and 15 to 29 lymph nodes. TNM stage and number of lymph nodes harvested were the independent risk factors affecting the survival., Conclusion: Tailored lymphadenectomy according to TNM stage and tumor location might be considered for gastric cancer patients., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)