Mannose receptor as a potential biomarker for gastric cancer: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The mannose receptor is an immune adhesion molecule mainly expressed on the surface of antigen-presenting cells such as nonmature dendritic cells and macrophages. This study aimed to investigate mannose receptor expression and its predictive role in papillary gastric cancer patients.

METHODS: The expression of the mannose receptor was measured in 120 samples of gastric cancer tissues and corresponding paracarcinoma tissues, by immunohistochemical and quantitative real-time PCR analysis. The relationships between mannose receptor expression and clinicopathological features of gastric cancer patients were analyzed.

RESULTS: The expression rate of the mannose receptor in gastric cancer cells was 45.8% (54/120), significantly higher than that in the paracarcinoma tissue (20.0%, 36/120) (χ2 = 6.286, p = 0.012). High expression of the mannose receptor was closely related to tumor size, T stage, N stage and Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) stage of gastric cancer (p<0.05). A Kaplan-Meier survival model indicated that the survival of patients in the high-expression mannose receptor group was significantly shorter than in the low-expression mannose receptor group (p<0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that high mannose receptor expression was an independent predictor for the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.

CONCLUSIONS: High mannose receptor expression indicates poor prognosis for gastric cancer patients. The mannose receptor may be an important molecular marker for gastric cancer prognosis.