Laminin: a New Biomarker for Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic utility of serum laminin levels in gastric cancer Design: A prospective and observational study Setting: Department of General Surgery, Van Yuzuncu Yil University Medical Faculty, Van, Turkey Subjects: Between June 2018 and September 2018, eighty patients who were diagnosed with gastric cancer as the patient group, and forty volunteers as the control group were included in the study. Intervention: From each patient, 3 ml of peripheral blood sample was collected. Main outcome measures: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit for human laminin were used for the detection of laminin in samples of serum. Data on patient demographics (age, gender) and serum laminin levels were recorded in both control and gastric cancer groups. In gastric cancer patients, serum laminin levels were further analyzed with respect to tumor stages and tumor size. Results: Serum laminin levels were significantly higher in gastric cancer patients [median (min-max): 205 (165-483) vs. 12 (9-18) ng/mL, P <0.001]. Laminin levels were higher in patients with advanced invasion depth, distant organ metastasis and lymph node metastasis ( P <0.001). The sensitivity and specificity determined from the receiver operating characteristic curves at cut-off level of 70 were 95% and 97% for serum laminin, respectively. Conclusion: The serum concentration of laminin can be used as a biomarker at the time of diagnosis for gastric cancer with high sensitivity and specificity. In addition, laminin can be used to discriminate between earlier, advanced or metastatic stages of gastric cancer.