PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - OSHIMA, TAKASHI AU - HASHIMOTO, ITARU AU - HIROSHIMA, YUKIHIKO AU - KIMURA, YAYOI AU - TANABE, MIE AU - NAKAYAMA, YUTA AU - NAGASAWA, SHINSUKE AU - KANEMATSU, KYOHEI AU - AOYAMA, TORU AU - YAMADA, TAKANOBU AU - OGATA, TAKASHI AU - MIYAGI, YOHEI TI - Clinical Significance of Granzyme B Gene Expression in Pathological Stage II/III Gastric Cancer After Curative Gastrectomy AID - 10.21873/anticanres.17282 DP - 2024 Oct 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 4537--4542 VI - 44 IP - 10 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/44/10/4537.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/44/10/4537.full SO - Anticancer Res2024 Oct 01; 44 AB - Background/Aim: Granzyme B (GZMB) is mainly produced by natural killer (NK) cells and activated CD8-positive T cells to induce tumor cell apoptosis. We analyzed the significance of GZMB expression in gastric cancer (GC) tissues from patients with pathological (p)Stage II/III GC after curative resection. Patients and Methods: Patients with pStage II/III GC who received curative resection (n=253) were included and the expression levels of GZMB in GC tissues and in the adjacent normal mucosa were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The expression levels in GC tissues and clinicopathological features and overall survival (OS) were compared in these patients. Results: GZMB expression levels were significantly higher in GC tissues than in the adjacent normal mucosa. GZMB expression levels in GC tissues were not associated with any clinicopathological features. The 5-year OS rate in the high-GZMB expression group was significantly better than that in the low-expression group (5-year survival rate 72.0% vs. 55.7%; p=0.009). Furthermore, on multivariate analysis, high-GZMB expression was an independent factor for better OS (hazard ratio=0.652; 95% confidence interval=0.432-0.987; p=0.043). Conclusion: In patients with locally advanced GC after curative resection, GZMB expression in GC tissue may be a useful prognostic marker.