Clinicopathologic significance of expression of nuclear factor-κB RelA and its target gene products in gastric cancer patients

Table 1 Correlation of nuclear factor-κB RelA expression and clinicopathological findings n (%)

	NF-κB RelA (-)	NF-κB RelA (+)	P
Sex			1.000
Male	39 (57.4)	29 (42.6)
Female	27 (57.4)	20 (42.6)
Age (yr)			0.192
< 60	38 (63.3)	22 (36.7)
≥ 60	28 (50.9)	27 (49.1)
Site			0.002
Upper	9 (37.5)	15 (62.5)
Middle	9 (50.0)	9 (50.0)
Lower	48 (72.7)	18 (27.3)
Diffuse	0 (0)	3 (100)
Size (cm)			0.045
< 5	47 (67.1)	23 (32.9)
≥ 5	19 (46.3)	22 (53.7)
Lauren			0.988
Intestinal	27 (58.7)	19 (41.3)
Diffuse	26 (57.8)	19 (42.2)
Mixed	9 (60.0)	6 (40.0)
Differentiation			0.631
Well	11 (68.8)	5 (31.3)
Moderate	14 (50.0)	14 (50.0)
Poor	34 (60.7)	22 (39.3)
Mucinous	7 (63.6)	4 (36.4)
Lymphovascular invasion			0.012
-	44 (69.8)	19 (30.2)
+	22 (45.8)	26 (54.2)
T stage			0.012
1-2	52 (67.5)	25 (32.5)
3-4	14 (41.2)	20 (58.8)
Node			< 0.001
-	34 (81.0)	8 (19.0)
+	32 (46.4)	37 (53.6)
Lymph node ratio			< 0.001
< 0.2	60 (70.6)	25 (29.4)
≥ 0.2	6 (23.1)	20 (76.9)
Stage			< 0.001
1	36 (83.7)	7 (16.3)
2	14 (60.9)	9 (39.1)
3	16 (51.6)	15 (48.4)
4	0 (0)	18 (100)
CEA (ng/mL)			0.134
< 5	64 (59.3)	44 (40.7)
≥ 5	2 (28.6)	5 (71.4)
CA19-9 (U/mL)			< 0.001
< 37	63 (67.7)	30 (32.3)
≥ 37	3 (13.6)	19 (86.4)

NF-κB: Nuclear factor-κB; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9.

Table 2 Correlation of nuclear factor-κB RelA and level of target genes (mean ± SD)

	Nuclear factor-κB		P
	- (n = 66)	+ (n = 49)
IL-6 (pg/mL)	8.1 ± 8.6	11.8 ± 10.7	0.044
VEGF (pg/mL)	117.2 ± 154.2	178.9 ± 202.7	0.066
SAA (mg/mL)	8.1 ± 20.3	14.5 ± 16.3	0.072
CRP (mg/mL)	0.1 ± 0.1	0.3 ± 0.4	0.010

IL-6: Interleukin-6; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; SAA: Serum amyloid A; CRP: C reactive protein.

Table 3 Univariate analysis according to the clinicopathologic finding

	n	5-yr DFS (%)	P	5-yr OS (%)	P
Sex					0.824
Male	68	64.7	0.827	65.8
Female	47	68.1		70.2
Age (yr)					0.367
< 60	60	70	0.355	71.7
≥ 60	65	61.8		62.7
Site					< 0.001
Upper	24	41.7	< 0.001	45.8
Middle	18	72.2		77.8
Lower	16	80.3		79.8
Diffuse	3	0		0
Size (cm)					0.005
< 5	70	77.1	0.006	78.1
≥ 5	41	53.7		56.1
Lauren					0.301
Intestinal	46	71.7	0.345	73.3
Diffuse	43	60.5		62.8
Mixed	15	80		80.8
Differentiation					0.779
Well	16	68.8	0.879	75
Moderate	28	75.2		75
Poor	56	66.1		67
Mucinous	11	63.6		63.6
Lymphovascular invasion					< 0.001
-	63	82.5	< 0.001	82
+	48	50		54.2
T stage					< 0.001
1-2	77	79.2	< 0.001	80
3-4	34	44.1		47.1
Node					< 0.001
-	42	97.6	< 0.001	97.6
+	69	50.7		52.9
Lymph node ratio					< 0.001
< 0.2	85	81.2	< 0.001	81
≥ 0.2	26	26.9		26.9
Stage					<0.001
1	43	100	< 0.001	100
2	23	60.9		63.2
3	31	54.8		58.1
4	18	11.1		11.1
CEA (ng/mL)					< 0.001
< 5	108	69.4	< 0.001	69.4
≥ 5	7	14.3		14.3
CA19-9 (U/mL)					< 0.001
< 37	93	73.1	< 0.001	73
≥ 37	22	36.4		36.4
Nuclear factor-κB					< 0.001
-	66	90.9	< 0.001	90.8
+	49	32.7		32.7
IL-6 (pg/mL)					< 0.001
< 6.83	59	81.4	< 0.001	81.4
≥ 6.83	56	50		49.6
VEGF (pg/mL)					0.002
< 68.1	57	80.7	0.001	80.5
≥ 68.1	58	52.6		52.6
SAA (mg/mL)					< 0.001
< 4.2	58	86.2	< 0.001	86
≥ 4.2	57	45.6		45.6
CRP (mg/mL)					0.899
< 0.1	59	66.1	0.858	66.1
≥ 0.1	56	66.1		65.9

DFS: Disease free survival; OS: Overall survival; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; IL-6: Interleukin-6; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; SAA: Serum amyloid A; CRP: C-reactive protein.

Table 4 Multivariate analysisclinicopathological findings

	5-yr disease free survival			5-yr overall survival
	HR	95% CI	P	HR	95% CI	P
Stage	7.83	2.44-25.18	0.001	6.15	1.97-19.2	0.002
Site	1.21	0.66-2.22	0.536	1.22	0.67-2.23	0.510
Size	0.48	0.188-1.27	0.142	0.577	0.22-1.41	0.218
LN ratio	1.68	1.01-2.79	0.043	2.46	1.01-5.94	0.047
LVI	0.79	0.30-2.11	0.650	1.02	0.41-2.52	0.951
IL-6	1.40	0.53-3.66	0.488	1.19	0.45-3.14	0.726
VEGF	1.22	0.77-1.95	0.390	2.11	0.86-5.17	0.102
SAA	3.21	0.96-10.79	0.058	3.39	1.02-11.23	0.045
CEA	2.17	0.66-7.07	0.198	2.38	0.76-7.48	0.135
CA19-9	0.93	0.35-2.45	0.898	1.96	0.76-5.02	0.158
NF-κB RelA	2.87	0.96-8.49	0.057	3.40	1.17-9.87	0.024

LVI: Lymphovascular invasion; IL-6: Interleukin-6; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; SAA: Serum amyloid A; LN: Lymph node; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; NF-κB: Nuclear factor-κB; CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; HR: Hazard ratio; 95% CI: 95% confidence interval.