Overexpression of endoglin (CD105) is associated with recurrence in radically resected gastric cancer

The aim of this study was to examine the expression of endoglin (CD105) in resected gastric cancer and to evaluate the relationship between microvessel density (MVD) and tumor recurrence after surgery. One hundred and thirty-two patients who had undergone curative surgery for primary gastric cancer were immunohistochemically stained for CD105, and MVD was assessed based on the number of CD105-positive vessels. MMP-7 expression was also investigated to determine the relationship with MVD. High MVD was significantly correlated with worse relapse-free survival in all cases and stage I-II cases by log-rank test (p=0.0005 and p=0.0154, respectively). Furthermore, in stage I-II cases, high MVD was the only independent predictor for relapse-free survival by multivariate analysis of the Cox proportional hazard model [p=0.028; hazard ratio (HR)=4.582; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.184-17.737]. Regarding the specific patterns of recurrence, high MVD was independently related to locoregional recurrence [p=0.011; odds ratio (OR)=15.208; 95% CI 1.886-122.662] and hematogenous recurrence (p=0.002; OR=5.718; 95% CI 1.875-17.442) by multivariate logistic analysis. However, the expression of MMP-7 or CD105 combined with MVD was associated with relapse-free survival, although these prognostic impacts were not maintained in multivariate analysis. In conclusion, MVD recognized by CD105 may be useful as a predictor for the recurrence of resected gastric cancer and may have a specific association with the development of locoregional and hematogenous recurrence.