High ADAMTS18 expression is associated with poor prognosis in stomach adenocarcinoma

Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) is the most pathological type of gastric cancer. ADAM metallopeptidase with thrombospondin type 1 motif 18 (ADAMTS18) plays an essential role in organ development and tumorigenesis; however, its function in STAD, and its impact on clinical outcome remain unclear. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the association between ADAMTS18 expression and the prognosis of patients with STAD. Data from 300 patients with STAD in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were analyzed, and the median survival time and overall survival (OS) rate of these patients were assessed. Subsequently, 40 paired tumor and non-tumor tissue samples from patients with STAD were collected, and the relative ADAMTS18 mRNA expression levels were determined. Results from TCGA database demonstrated that high tumor ADAMTS18 expression was associated with a poorer prognosis in patients with STAD. Similarly, results from the assessed patient cohort indicated that ADAMTS18 expression was significantly higher in STAD tissues compared with non-tumor tissues. Furthermore, ADAMTS18 expression was significantly associated with tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis and tumor node metastasis stage. Taken together, these results suggest that ADAMTS18 is highly expressed in STAD tissues, and thus may act as a potential indicator of poor prognosis in patients with STAD.