The expression of ARHI in pT2a and pT2b stage gastric cancer and its clinical significance

ARHI is a novel tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 1p31. Downregulation of ARHI expression has been detected in many types of cancer. However, the effects of ARHI in gastric cancer remain unclear. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between ARHI expression and gastric cancer clinicopathological features. In this study, 81 pT2 stage gastric cancer specimens were subclassified by pT2a and pT2b stage. ARHI mRNA and protein levels were evaluated by real-time PCR and western blot analysis, respectively. Methylation plays an important role in suppressor gene silencing. We utilized methylation-specific PCR to identify the status of CpG islands in the ARHI gene. We used immunohistochemistry to determine the expression of the protein and analyzed clinicopathological features. The levels of ARHI mRNA in gastric cancer were lower compared to normal tissues (P<0.01). Similarly, the levels of ARHI protein in the cancer specimens were lower (P<0.05). DNA hypermethylation was identified in 79.1% of gastric cancer specimens without ARHI expression. Immunohistochemistry results were significantly correlated with the pT2 category (P<0.05). The cumulative survival rate of patients with ARHI expression was significantly higher compared to those without ARHI expression (P<0.05). ARHI as a suppressor is not only an important factor in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer, but also a potential factor for tumor aggravation. ARHI expression in gastric cancer can be employed to indicate favorable prognosis for the disease.