RML staging was the best system for prediction the OS of the gastric cancer patients following radical gastrectomy plus extended lymphadenectomy, rather than LODDS staging, NLN staging or N staging.

Metformin has been reported having potential anticancer effect on kinds of solid tumors, but its role in combined small-cell lung cancer (C-SCLC) remains indistinct. This study aimed to explore whether metformin use has a prognosis benefit in diabetic C-SCLC patients. A total of 259 C-SCLC patients with diabetes were enrolled in our study. The clinicopathological parameters and survival data were collected and analyzed. The correlation between metformin use and clinicopathological characters was analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the prognostic significance of metformin use for C-SCLC. The metformin was used in 120 (46.3 %) patients. Our data showed that the metformin use decreased C-SCLC recurrence rate (p = 0.001). The median overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were significantly better in the metformin use group compared to non-metformin group (OS 19.0 vs 11.5 months, p < 0.001; DFS 10.5 vs 7.0 months, p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses indicated that metformin use was an independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS (p = 0.001 vs p = 0.018). The metformin use improved the long-term outcome of C-SCLC patients with diabetes, which might be considered a potential useful prognostic indicator and anticancer drug.

SET and MYND domain-containing protein 3 (SMYD3) plays a key role in the progression of human cancer. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 is being related to tumor progression. It has been reported that SMYD3 and MMP-9 are overexpressed in human cancers. However, the exact roles of SMYD3 and MMP-9 in the metastasis and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) remain unclear. The expressions of SMYD3 and MMP-9 were detected by semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting in gastric cancer and adjacent nontumor tissues. In addition, SMYD3 and MMP-9 expressions were analyzed by immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed samples from 186 gastric cancer patients. The messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression levels of SMYD3 and MMP-9 in gastric cancer tissues were both significantly higher than those in adjacent nontumor tissues. In addition, the expression of SMYD3 was correlated with size of primary tumor and lymph node metastasis, while size of primary tumor and serosal invasion were identified as the independently relative factors of MMP-9 expression in GC tissues. SMYD3 expression and MMP-9 expression in GC tissues were significantly and positively correlated. Multivariate analysis results demonstrated that degree of differentiation, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, SMYD3 expression, and MMP-9 expression were the independent prognostic indicators of gastric cancer. SMYD3 and MMP-9 may play important roles in tumor invasion, metastasis, and prognosis and could work as promising targets for prognostic prediction in gastric cancer.

Ts should be recommended as an important clinicopathologic variable to enhance the accuracy of the prognostic prediction of GC clinical patients.

G protein-coupled receptor, family C, group 5, member A (GPRC5A) had received attentions for its role in carcinogenesis and prognostic values in several types of cancer. However, the functional roles of GPRC5A in gastric cancer (GC) had never been elucidated. The expression levels of GPRC5A were detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR and Western blot in GC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues. GPRC5A expression in tissue sections of 106 GC samples was evaluated using immunohistochemistry. The staining results were compared with clinicopathological factors and to the prognosis of GC patients. The mRNA and protein expression levels of GPRC5A in gastric cancer tissues were higher than those in adjacent non-tumor tissues. Positive GPRC5A expression was significantly correlated with larger size of primary tumor, diffuse type (Lauren's classification), deeper serosal invasion, and more lymph node metastasis. In addition, Kaplan-Meier curve analysis demonstrated that GC patients with positive GPRC5A expression had poor prognosis than those with negative GPRC5A expression. GPRC5A expression was identified as an independent factor of the overall survival in GC patients by multivariate Cox analysis. Further, the overall survival difference existed between patients with GPRC5A positive and negative groups in GC patients with lymph node metastasis. Our results suggested that elevated levels of GPRC5A played significant roles in GC progression. GPRC5A could serve as a prognostic biomarker of GC.