Overexpression of UDP-Glucose 4-Epimerase Is Associated with Differentiation Grade of Gastric Cancer

The UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (GALE) is a glycosyltransferase, which acts on protein and lipid glycosylation in normal and neoplastic cells. This study is aimed at investigating the differential tissue expression of GALE and its possible association with clinical-pathological parameters and the outcome of gastric adenocarcinoma patients. Seventy-one patients were evaluated in relation to GALE expression by immunohistochemistry. Our results showed that 48 (67.6%) patients were GALE positive and 23 (32.4%) negative. Positive staining was present on well-differentiated and moderate-differentiated histological grade of gastric adenocarcinomas (p < 0.0001). There was no significant association with outcome parameters (p > 0.05). Besides that, our results corroborated with the validation cohort analysis, where the expression of GALE mRNA was also associated with the histological grade (p < 0.001). These results suggest a possible use of this enzyme as a biomarker for well and moderately differentiated tumors.