Association of immune checkpoint ligand gene expression with postoperative survival in gastric cancer

• Mansorunov D.Zh.
• Kipkeeva F.M.
• Nikulin M.P.
• Alimov A.A.

Abstract

Expression of inhibitory ligands and receptors of immune checkpoints in tumors is generally associated with tumor progression and the level of expression can also be considered as a prognostic marker.

Aim – to study the association of gene expression of immune checkpoint inhibitory ligands with overall survival after surgical treatment of gastric cancer (GC).

Material and methods. Paired samples of GC (tumor/normal) from 68 patients who underwent surgical treatment were examined. The level of relative expression of CD274, CD276, PVR, CEACAM1, LGALS3, LGALS9 genes was determined using real-time PCR. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model.

Results. It was found that three-year postoperative overall survival in GC is associated with the TNM stage (p=0.026), lymph node metastasis (p=0.004), depth of invasion (p=0.025), differentiation degree (p=0.048) and Lauren type (p=0.043). In addition, PVR gene expression was found to

be associated with survival rate (p=0.026). Increased PVR expression is associated with better survival (HR=0.29; 95% CI 0.09–0.98; p=0.047); no association was found for the other genes studied.

Conclusion. Based on a study of the immune checkpoint ligands gene expression, it was revealed that increased PVR expression is a potential marker of a good prognosis in patients with gastric cancer after surgery.

Keywords:gene; expression; gastric cancer; immune checkpoint; prognosis; survival

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