Latorre G, Pizarro M, Ford JS, Gándara V, Muñoz G, Araya JC, Bellolio E, Villaseca M, Fuentes-López E, Cortés P, Rollán A, Bufadel ME, Araya R, Vargas JI, Espino A, Sharp A, Agüero C, Donoso A, Bresky G, Pedrero P, Rueda C, Calvo A, Odagaki T, Moriyama T, Ishida T, Parra-Blanco A, Camargo MC, González R, Corvalán AH, and Riquelme A
Background: Adenocarcinoma is preceded by chronic atrophic gastritis, gastric intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia. Trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) is a peptide secreted by goblet cells, which is abundantly present in intestinal metaplasia., Aim: To evaluate the utility of serum TFF3 as a non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis of intestinal metaplasia and gastric cancer., Methods: Single-center, cross-sectional study of 274 patients who consecutively underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with gastric biopsies (updated Sydney system). TFF3 levels were measured in serum by a commercial ELISA kit. Patients with normal histology or chronic atrophic gastritis without intestinal metaplasia comprised the control group. In addition, 14 patients with invasive gastric cancer were included as a reference group. The association between TFF3 levels and intestinal metaplasia was assessed by logistic regression., Results: Patients with intestinal metaplasia (n=110) had a higher median TFF3 level as compared to controls (n=164), 13.1 vs. 11.9ng/mL, respectively (p=0.024). Multivariable logistic regression showed a no significant association between TFF3 levels and intestinal metaplasia (OR=1.20; 95%CI: 0.87-1.65; p-trend=0.273). The gastric cancer group had a median TFF3 level of 20.5ng/mL, and a significant association was found (OR=3.26; 95%CI: 1.29-8.27; p-trend=0.013)., Conclusion: Serum levels of TFF3 do not discriminate intestinal metaplasia in this high-risk Latin American population. Nevertheless, we confirmed an association between TFF3 levels and invasive gastric cancer., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)