Decreased expression of Siglec-8 associates with poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer after surgical resection

The expression of sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin (Siglec) family has been detected in many malignant tumors and correlated with patient outcomes. The present study aims to investigate the prognostic value of Siglec-8 expression and refine current risk stratification system in patients with gastric cancer. Two independent sets of patients (n = 78; n = 356, respectively) with gastric cancer from Zhongshan Hospital were enrolled into this study. The expression of Siglec-8 was detected by immunohistochemistry. Cox regression analysis was used to assess the prognostic value of Siglec-8 expression and clinical outcomes. A novel molecular prognostic stratification system combining intratumoral Siglec-8 expression with TNM stage was determined by means of receiver operating characteristic analysis. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified that intratumoral Siglec-8 low expression was an independent prognostic factor for dismal overall survival of patients with gastric cancer. Incorporating intratumoral Siglec-8 expression into the current TNM staging system showed more accuracy for predicting prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. Our study suggested that intratumoral Siglec-8 expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of patients with gastric cancer. Incorporating Siglec-8 expression level into current TNM staging system might add more comprehensive prognostic information for patients with gastric cancer and lead to a more precise risk stratification system for predicting clinical outcomes.