Evaluation of the role of soluble B7-H3 in association with membrane B7-H3 expression in gastric adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND and OBJECTIVE: Gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) is one of the most common malignancies. Increasing data have indicated a correlation between soluble B7-H3 (sB7-H3) levels and tumor malignancies. In this study, we aim to investigate the level of soluble B7-H3 in serum of GAC patients. Further, we analyze the correlation between sB7-H3 level and tissue B7-H3 expression and explore the clinical evaluation value of sB7-H3 associated with pathological characteristics and prognosis of GAC patients. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-eight serum and tissue samples of GAC, 20 serum and tissue samples of gastritis patients and 77 serum, 5 tissue samples of healthy controls were collected. The serum levels of sB7-H3 were detected by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while the expression of membrane B7-H3 (mB7-H3) and Ki67 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The correlation between sB7-H3 and mB7-H3, sB7-H3 and Ki67, sB7-H3 or mB7-H3 and clinical features were analyzed by Pearson's Chi-square test. RESULTS: Both serum level of sB7-H3 and tissue B7-H3 of GAC patients were significantly higher than those of gastritis patients and healthy controls. sB7-H3 level was correlated with total B7-H3 expression in tissues (r = 0.2801, P = 0.0014). Notably, the concentration of sB7-H3 was correlated with its expression of membrane form in tumor cells (r = 0.3251, P = 0.002) while not in stromal cells (r = 0.07676, P = 0.3891). Moreover, the levels of sB7-H3 in patients with TNM stage III/IV or with infiltration depth T3/T4 or with lymph node metastasis were significantly higher than those of patients with TNM stage VII (P = 0.0020) or with Infiltration depth T1/T2 (P = 0.0169) or with no lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0086). Tumor B7-H3 score, but not stromal B7-H3 score, in patients with TNM stage III/IV or with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than those with TNM stage I/II (P = 0.0150) or with no lymph node metastasis (P = 0.182). CONCLUSIONS: Soluble B7-H3 level may reflect the tissue B7-H3 expression on tumor cells of GAC tissues. Elevated level of sB7-H3 in serum suggests poor clinical pathological characteristics of GAC patients.

Automated summary

The levels of soluble B7-H3 in both serum and tissue of gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) patients were significantly higher compared to gastritis patients and healthy controls. The level of soluble B7-H3 was correlated with the expression of B7-H3 in tissues, and it was associated with clinical pathological characteristics of GAC patients.