Formyl Peptide receptor 1 expression is associated with tumor progression and survival in gastric cancer

Formyl peptide receptor 1 (FPR1) as a regulator of innate inflammatory response has been implicated in tumor progression of gliomas. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic significance and the ligand-receptor interaction of FPR1 in gastric cancer (GC).

FPR1 was immunohistochemically-analyzed in tissue sections originating from 116 GC patients. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for the assessment of interaction between FPR1 and the FPR1 ligand annexin A1 (AnxA1) in GC cells.

High FPR1 expression was significantly associated with stage IV disease, submucosal invasion, serosal invasion, and clinical outcome of GC. Multivariate analysis showed that high FPR1 expression was an independent risk factor of poor overall survival in GC patients. FPR1 expression increased significantly when AnxA1 overexpression was present in GC cells. A positive feedback regulation of FPR1 was involved in the AnxA1-FPR1 signal transduction.

FPR1 expression may be used as a novel indicator to predict outcome in GC patients after gastrectomy.