High Expression of NLRC5 Is Associated with Prognosis of Gastric Cancer

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationships of NLRC5 with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of gastric cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 97 gastric cancer patients undergoing radical gastrectomy were enrolled. All patients were diagnosed by immunohistochemical staining. The relationship between NLRC5 expression and clinicopatho-logical characteristics of gastric cancer was analyzed via univariate and multivariate Cox regressions. RESULTS: NLRC5 expression was positive in 70 cases (72.2%) and negative in 27 cases (27.8%). No significant differences in age, sex, or tumor size or differentiation were found between the negative and positive groups. NLRC5 expression was related to tumor site, and in the positive group, it was high in the fundus and low in the pylorus (χ(2)=7.359, P=0.125). NLRC5 expression was significantly related to lymph nodes and tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging (χ(2)=6.295; χ(2)=6.268). Multivariate Cox regression indicated positive NLRC5 expression was independently and significantly associated with prognosis of gastric cancer patients (HR=2.92, 95%CI: 1.51-5.63). CONCLUSIONS: NLRC5 is closely related to TNM staging and lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer and is an independent risk factor for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.