The prognostic value of the high-mobility group box family mRNA expressions in gastric cancer

The high-mobility group box (HMGB) family represents a group of proteins that consists of HMGB1, HMGB2, HMGB3, and HMGB4. The HMGB proteins carry out various biological functions that play roles in various cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). However, to date, the prognostic value of HMGB proteins in GC has not been investigated. The present study assessed the association among the mRNA expressions of the four HMGB family members and examined GC patients' prognoses using a Kaplan-Meier (KM plotter) survival analysis. The gene expressions of the HMGB family and the OS data of 876 GC patients were obtained from the KM plotter database. It was found that higher HMGB1, HMGB2, and HMGB3 mRNA levels were significantly correlated with a better overall survival (OS) for the GC patients. Further analysis revealed that the mRNA levels of some HMGB members were significantly correlated with their clinical characteristics, including gender, Lauren histological classification, pathological grade, clinical stage, status of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2), and the different treatments. These findings have unveiled some novel prognostic roles of the HMGB proteins in GC, which may lead to the development of a better approach for more accurate GC prognoses. Furthermore, these results may offer potential molecular targets for the development of therapeutic drugs for GC.

Automated summary

The study found that higher levels of HMGB1, HMGB2, and HMGB3 mRNA were significantly associated with better overall survival in GC patients. The mRNA levels of some HMGB members were significantly correlated with clinical characteristics of patients, revealing novel prognostic roles for HMGB proteins in GC.