Decreased expression of FOXJ1 is a potential prognostic predictor for progression and poor survival of gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: FOXJ1 is a member of the forkhead transcription factor family, which has been mostly studied for its role in the development of ciliated epithelium and immunology. However, the role of FOXJ1 in tumorigenesis remains largely unknown or even conflicting. We thus investigated FOXJ1 expression in gastric cancer and analyzed its correlations with tumor progression and prognosis.

METHODS: The expression of FOXJ1 was detected by immunohistochemistry in 105 gastric cancer samples and adjacent noncancerous tissues. Staining evaluation was conducted to assess clinicopathological parameters and the survival rate. In addition, the relation between FOXJ1 and metastasis was investigated in another 40 pairs of primary lesions and corresponding lymph node metastases. Furthermore, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were confirmed in vitro.

RESULTS: Decreased FOXJ1 expression was significantly correlated with clinic stage, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis, and lower FOXJ1 expression independently predicted shorter survival time in gastric carcinoma. Moreover, the positive incidence of FOXJ1 decreased significantly in metastatic lymph nodes compared with that in the primary lesions. Consistently, FOXJ1 overexpression significantly weakened cell proliferation, motility, migration, and invasion, while FOXJ1 knockdown induced the opposite effects.

CONCLUSIONS: Decreased expression of FOXJ1 is an independent prognostic predictor for gastric cancer and is critical to disease progression. FOXJ1 may be an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of gastric cancer.