Loss of BCL2L10 protein expression as prognostic predictor for poor clinical outcome in gastric carcinoma

Loss of BCL2L10 protein expression as prognostic predictor for poor clinical outcome in gastric carcinoma Aims: BCL2L10 protein is an apoptosis-related member of the Bcl-2 protein family. The clinical significance of its expression in gastric carcinoma is poorly understood. The aim was to investigate BCL2L10 expression and its clinical and prognostic significance in gastric carcinoma patients. Methods and results: Immunohistochemistry, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunoblotting all revealed extensive loss of BCL2L10 expression in gastric cancer cells. The scaled BCL2L10 expression data was categorized into three groups (groups 0-2) to facilitate statistical analysis. A significant correlation was observed between the lower BCL2L10 expression group and shorter disease-free survival (P = 1.956 x 10-18). Multivariate regression analysis showed that loss of BCL2L10 protein expression [P = 4.883 x 10-8, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.252] is an independent prognostic predictor of gastric carcinoma. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the area for BCL2L10 protein was 0.817 (P = 8.331 x 10-14), indicating that loss of BCL2L10 protein expression is an excellent prognostic predictor of gastric carcinoma. Conclusions: Loss of BCL2L10 protein expression predicts poor clinical outcome in gastric carcinoma.