AMIGO2 Expression as a Potential Prognostic Biomarker for Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Background/Aim: Although our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of gastric cancer (GC) development and progression is steadily deepening, the clinical outcome of GC patients remains inadequate. The identification of molecules associated with GC will help improve prognosis. We aimed to identify the molecules involved in GC progression and metastasis. Materials and Methods: Transcriptome analysis was performed on surgically resected gastric tissue from patients with hepatic metastasis. Fourteen cell lines and 230 pairs of primary GC tissues and their corresponding normal adjacent tissues were included in the mRNA expression analysis. Results: Adhesion molecule with Ig like domain 2 (AMIGO2) was identified as a gene of interest. The levels of AMIGO2 mRNA positively correlated with those encoding FOXC2, NODAL, GEMIN2 and negatively correlated with TFPI2. Patients with high AMIGO2 expression experienced significantly shorter disease-free survival and overall survival. High levels of AMIGO2 were associated with poor prognosis. Conclusion: Patients with GC with high AMIGO2 mRNA levels experienced significantly shorter survival, suggesting that AMIGO2 may serve as a prognostic biomarker for GC.

Establishment of an antibody specific for AMIGO2 improves immunohistochemical evaluation of liver metastases and clinical outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer

“…The association between organ carcinogenesis and AMIGO2 expression has been reported in various types of cancer, including gastric cancer [ 13 , 14 ], pancreatic cancer [ 20 ], colorectal cancer [ 11 , 19 ], breast cancer [ 12 ], ovarian cancer [ 17 ], endometrial cancer [ 21 ], melanoma [ 15 , 16 , 40 ], and pituitary neuroendocrine tumors [ 18 ]. Since AMIGO2 expression is involved not only in tumor development but also in tumor progression including acquisition of metastasis, AMIGO2 may be a new molecule that controls cancer stem cell-like function.…”

“…Multivariate analysis showed that AMIGO2 expression in patients with CRC was an independent predictive factor for liver metastasis [ 11 ]. Furthermore, transcriptionally high levels of AMIGO2 are associated with shortened survival of patients with CRC [ 11 ], breast cancer [ 12 ], and gastric cancer [ 13 ]. AMIGO2 has been reported as a novel pathogenesis-related gene in gastric cancer [ 14 ], melanoma [ 15 , 16 ], ovarian cancer [ 17 ], and pituitary neuroendocrine tumors [ 18 ].…”

AMIGO2 contained in cancer cell-derived extracellular vesicles enhances the adhesion of liver endothelial cells to cancer cells

“…In fact, our histopathological study revealed a close association between AMIGO2 expression in primary tumors from patients with colorectal cancer and liver metastasis 6 . In addition, high AMIGO2 mRNA has been reported to be positively associated with disease-free survival and reduced overall survival in patients with gastric cancer 7 . Thus, AMIGO2 expression in cancer cells may enhance the adhesion of cancer cells to liver endothelial cells, thereby facilitating the formation of liver metastasis.…”

The impact of AMIGO2 on prognosis and hepatic metastasis in gastric cancer patients

“…In ovarian cancer, cancer cells with high AMIGO2 expression show a significantly increased growth rate in the abdominal cavity [ 16 ]. In GC, patients with high AMIGO2 mRNA expression have a significantly worse prognosis [ 17 ].…”