Several studies have reported a high rate of RHOA mutations in the Lauren diffuse-type gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) but not in intestinal-type GA. The aim of this study was to determine if RhoA activity is prognostic for overall survival (OS) in patients with resectable GA.
Retrospective review was performed on a prospective database of GA patients who underwent potentially curative resection between 2003 and 2012 at a single institution. Tissue microarrays were constructed from surgical specimens and analyzed for phosphorylated RhoA, a marker of inactive RhoA signaling. OS was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariate analysis was performed by Cox proportional hazards regression modeling.
One -hundred thirty-six patients with diffuse-type GA and 129 patients with intestinal-type GA were examined. Compared to intestinal-type GA, diffuse-type GA tumors were significantly associated with increased tumor size and advanced TNM stage. In patients with diffuse-type GA, high RhoA activity was associated with significantly worse OS when compared to low RhoA activity (5-year OS 52.5 % vs. 81.0 %, p = 0.017). This difference in OS was not observed in patients with intestinal-type GA (5-year OS 83.9 % vs. 81.6 %, p = 0.766). On multivariate analysis of diffuse-type GA patients, high RhoA activity was an independent negative prognostic factor for OS (HR 2.38, 95% CI 1.07–5.28).