High expression of Wls is associated with lymph node metastasis and advanced TNM stage in gastric carcinomas

The roles of Wnt protein in carcinogenesis have been well documented in human cancers. Wls is a key modulator for the secretion of Wnt protein. We previously found that Wls was aberrantly expressed in colorectal carcinomas. Studies have revealed that dysregulation of Wnt signal transduction plays an important role in gastric carcinoma. We hypothesized that Wls may play a role in the development and progression of gastric carcinoma. In this study, three gastric cancer cell lines MGC-803, SGC-7901, and AGS, and a set of gastric carcinoma tissue specimens were subjected to immunohistochemistry. The relationship between the expression of Wls and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed. Wls was negatively detected in MGC-803, positively detected in SGC-7901 and AGS cell lines. Wls was weakly expressed in 9.7% (15/154), moderately in 33.1% (51/154), and strongly in 57.1% (88/154) of tested gastric carcinoma specimens. High expression of Wls was positively associated with well and moderately differentiated tumors (P = 0.035, r_s  = 0.170), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001, r_s  = 0.276), and advanced TNM stage (P = 0.006, r_s  = 0.219). Our data suggest that Wls protein is related to tumor metastasis and advanced TNM stage, and may be used as a new marker for prognosis of gastric carcinoma.