Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of SPARC expression in gastric cancer: A meta‑analysis and bioinformatics analysis

Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) is a member of the extracellular matrix glycoprotein family that binds to calcium ions. It may bind to a variety of proteins in the extracellular matrix and also compete with cell membrane surface receptors for growth. In the present study, the relationship between SPARC expression in gastric cancer tissues and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer were systematically evaluated. A meta-analysis and bioinformatics analysis were performed using the PubMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Kaplan-Meier (KM)-plotter, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), University of ALabama at Birmingham CANcer (UALCAN), Human Protein Atlas (HPA) and Timer databases. SPARC was mainly expressed in tumor mesenchymal cells. The meta-analysis indicated that SPARC expression was higher in gastric cancer tissues than in normal tissues. SPARC was associated with the degree of differentiation and distant metastasis. K-M plotter results indicated that high SPARC expression was negatively associated with overall survival, post-progression survival and progression-free survival rates of patients. According to the Oncomine, GEPIA, UALCAN and HPA databases, SPARC mRNA and protein expression was upregulated in gastric cancer vs. normal tissues and was negatively associated with poor patient prognosis. In the TCGA database, univariate analysis indicated that lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis were associated with the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. Cox multifactorial analysis suggested that high SPARC expression, age and distant metastasis were important factors affecting the survival time of patients with gastric cancer. Analysis with the Timer database indicated that SPARC was closely associated with the proportion of 7 immune-cell infiltrates in gastric cancer. These findings indicated that high expression of SPARC may be a potential marker of tumorigenesis and metastasis in patients with gastric cancer.