ABSTRACT
Objective: To detect the expression of P53, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2), and tumor endothelial marker 1 (TEM1) in gastric cancer tissues, analyze their correlation with clinical efficacy, and explore their potential roles as biomarkers for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Sixty-three patients with gastric cancer who underwent fluorouracil-based neoadjuvant che-motherapy in The First Hospital of Lanzhou University from May 2015 to May 2017 were enrolled. Using immunohistochemistry, the expression of P53, Her2, and TEM1 was detected in 63 gastric cancer specimens before neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was assessed by imaging. The relationship between the expression of P53, HER-2, and TEM1 and the effi-cacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was analyzed. Results: The total effective rate of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 63 patients with advanced gastric cancer was 69.8%, with 2, 7, and 35 patients achieving complete remission, partial remission, and stable disease, re-spectively. Disease progression was noted in 19 patients. Univariate analysis revealed that patients positive for TEM1 and having high T stage had a poor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P<0.05); furthermore, location, differentiation, and size of tumor; P53 posi-tivity (P=0.488); and Her-2 positivity (P=0.106) were not associated with the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer. Multivariate analysis revealed that TEM1 positivity and a higher T stage could be factors that predicted the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer. Conclusions: TEM1, as a marker of tumor stroma, may be an important molec-ular biological indicator that predicts the poor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer.