Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of metastasis associated with colon cancer 1 (MACC1) and spondin 2 (SPON2) in gastric cancer tissues and its clinical significance. Methods A total of 106 cancer tissues and 90 adjacent normal gastric mucosa tissues of gastric cancer patients who underwent surgical treatment in Shanghai Eighth People's Hospital from January 2013 to January 2015, were collected, and 83 cases of gastric polyps extracted by endoscopy were selected as well. The expression of MACC1 and SPON2 proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry. The prognosis factors of gastric cancer was analyzed by the Cox proportional hazard model. Results The positive expression rates of MACC1 and SPON2 proteins in gastric cancer tissues were higher than those in gastric polyp tissues and normal gastric mucosa tissues (all P<0.05). The expression levels of MACC1 and SPON2 proteins were correlated with tumor differentiation, TNM stage, the degree of infiltration and lymph node metastasis (all P<0.05). The median overall survival  of MACC1 protein high expression group and low expression group were 23 months and 34 months (log-rank χ² =9.324, P=0.002), respectively. The median overall survival of SPON2 protein high expression group and low expression group were 25 months and 34 months (log-rank χ² =4.694, P=0.030), respectively. The multivariable analysis showed that the high expression of MACC1 and SPON2 proteins were the risk factors for poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients (all P<0.05). Conclusions MACC1 and SPON2 are highly expressed in gastic cancer tissues, and both high expressions are the factors of poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

Key words: Gastric cancer, Gastric polyp, Metastasis associated in colon cancer 1, Spondin 2, Prognosis