TNFAIP 8 overexpression is associated with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in intestinal‐type gastric adenocarcinoma

Aims Tumour necrosis factor alpha‐induced protein 8 ( TNFAIP 8) is implicated in the progression of several human malignancies, but its role in gastric adenocarcinoma is unknown. TNFAIP 8 expression and its correlation with clinical significance in gastric adenocarcinoma are evaluated in this study. Methods and results The expression of TNFAIP 8 was determined in primary gastric adenocarcinoma tissues using immunohistochemistry ( IHC ) and Western blotting analysis. TNFAIP 8 expression was higher in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues. Elevated expression of TNFAIP 8 in gastric adenocarcinoma was associated significantly with depth of invasion ( P  =   0.024), lymph node metastasis ( P  =   0.038) and Lauren classification ( P  =   0.048). Patients with tumours showing high TNFAIP 8 expression had a significantly poorer overall survival ( OS ) and disease‐free survival ( DFS ) than those with low TNFAIP 8 expression in intestinal‐type gastric adenocarcinoma ( IGA ) ( P  =   0.001 for both). In the multivariate Cox analysis, TNFAIP 8 expression was an independent prognostic marker for OS and DFS in IGA with P ‐values of 0.006 and 0.007, respectively. Conclusions Our data suggest that TNFAIP 8 overexpression may contribute to lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in IGA .