Chaperonin-containing tailless complex polypeptide 1 subunit 6A links with aggravating tumor features and disease-free survival in surgical gastric cancer patients: A long-term follow-up study

Abstract

BackgroundChaperonin-containing tailless complex polypeptide 1 subunit 6A (CCT6A) promotes several gastrointestinal-cancer malignant behaviors, while its clinical value in surgical gastric cancer is not clear. Hence, we aimed to investigate this issue. MethodsTotally, tumor and adjacent specimens from 262 surgical gastric cancer patients were collected for measuring CCT6A protein level by immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining; meanwhile, specimens from 109 patients were used for evaluating CCT6A mRNA expression by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). ResultsCCT6A IHC score and CCT6A mRNA expression were upregulated in the tumor tissue compared with the adjacent tissue (both P<0.001). Besides, elevated CCT6A IHC score was correlated with larger tumor size (P<0.001), advanced T stage (P=0.001), N stage (P=0.003) and tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage (P=0.001). Meanwhile, increased CCT6A mRNA expression was associated with higher T stage (P=0.008) and TNM stage (P=0.020). Besides, CCT6A protein high (P=0.017) and CCT6A mRNA high (P=0.047) were correlated with unfavorable disease-free survival (DFS), whereas neither CCT6A protein nor CCT6A mRNA expression was related to the overall survival (OS) (both P>0.05). Additionally, the multivariable Cox's proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that CCT6A protein high was independently correlated with shorter DFS (adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 2.032, P=0.005), but not with OS. ConclusionCCT6A is upregulated with its overexpression linking with advanced T stage, TNM stage and unfavorable DFS in surgical gastric cancer patients.