Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5（LGR5） and E-cadherin in gastric cancer tissues and its clinical significance. Methods 115 gastric cancer tissues and 20 corresponding adjacent normal tissues were collected from surgical resection at the Affiliated Zhuzhou Hospital of XiangYa School of Medicine CSU between August 2014 and May 2016. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to determine the expression of LGR5 and E-cadherin. The correlation between LGR5 and E-cadherin expression as well as its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of gastric cancer patients were analyzed. Results The positive rates of LGR5 and E-cadherin in gastric cancer tissues were 62.6% and 53.9%，respectively，compared with the adjacent normal tissues，the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）. The expression of LGR5 and E-cadherin in gastric cancer tissues were closely related to tumor size，TNM stage，depth of invasion，lymph node and distant metastasis（P<0.05）. Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated that LGR5 expression was negatively correlated with E-cadherin expression in gastric cancer tissues（r=-0.318，P=0.001）. The 1-year and 3-year overall survival rates of LGR5 negative patients were higher than that of positive patients（P<0.001）. The 1-year and 3-year overall survival rates of E-cadherin positive patients were also higher than those of negative patients（P<0.001）. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that TNM stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ，lymph node metastasis，distant metastasis，LGR5 positive expression，and E-cadherin negative expression were the independent factors for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients（P<0.05）. Conclusion The high expression of LGR5 in gastric cancer tissues and the lack of E-cadherin expression may lead to the development and poor prognosis of gastric cancer.

Key words: Gastric cancer, LGR5, E-cadherin, Prognosis