FHIT down-regulation was inversely linked to aggressive behaviors and adverse prognosis of gastric cancer: a meta- and bioinformatics analysis

FHIT (fragile histine triad) acts as diadenosine P1, P3-bis (5'-adenosyl)-triphosphate adenylohydrolase involved in purine metabolism, and induces apoptosis as a tumor suppressor. We performed a systematic meta- and bioinformatics analysis through multiple online databases up to March 14, 2017. The down-regulated FHIT expression was found in gastric cancer, compared with normal mucosa and dysplasia (p < 0.05). FHIT expression was negatively with depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, TNM staging and dedifferentiation of gastric cancer (p < 0.05). A positive association between FHIT expression and favorable overall survival was found in patients with gastric cancer (p < 0.05). According to Kaplan-Meier plotter, we found that a higher FHIT expression was negatively correlated with overall and progression-free survival rates of all cancer patients, even stratified by aggressive parameters (p < 0.05). These findings indicated that FHIT expression might be employed as a potential marker to indicate gastric carcinogenesis and subsequent progression, even prognosis.