A kinase‐interacting protein 1 may serve as a potential biomarker for deteriorative tumor features and poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the association of A kinase‐interacting protein 1 (AKIP1) expression with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in gastric cancer patients. METHODS: Data of 260 gastric cancer patients were retrospectively reviewed. AKIP1 expression in tumor tissue and non‐cancerous tissue specimens was detected by immunohistochemistry and semi‐quantitatively scored according to the staining intensity and density. Moreover, the clinicopathological features were retrieved, and disease‐free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated. RESULTS: A kinase‐interacting protein 1 expression was increased in tumor tissues compared with non‐cancerous tissues (P < .001). In terms of tumor features, tumor AKIP1 high expression correlated with elevated T stage (P < .001) and raised TNM stage (P = .042), while did not correlate with pathological grade (P > .999), tumor size (P = .060), N stage (P = .180), or tumor location (P > .999). Meanwhile, tumor AKIP1 was not associated with the non‐tumor features either. Kaplan‐Meier curves disclosed that AKIP1 high expression patients had shorter DFS (P = .004) and OS (P = .043) compared with AKIP1 low expression patients. Univariate Cox's regression showed that AKIP1 high expression correlated with shorter DFS (P = .005, hazard ratio [HR] = 1.635) and OS (P = .046, HR = 1.519), whereas multivariate Cox's regression displayed that AKIP1 did not independently predict worse DFS (P = .172, HR = 1.276) or shorter OS (P = .433, HR = 1.183). CONCLUSION: A kinase‐interacting protein 1 may serve as a potential biomarker for deteriorative tumor features and poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients.