Serum laminin level as a new predictive factor for gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the malignancies that are common in our region and in our country. Nearly 50% of the patients had metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis; this situation prevents curative treatment. Biomarkers that can be used as cancer marker in serum for early diagnosis are needed. In this study, we investigated the relationship between laminin levels in the stomach cancer patients with tumor stage and lymph node metastasis. Eighty patients as stomach cancer group and 40 patients as control group were included in the study. Blood samples were taken from the persons in both groups. Laminin levels in these blood samples were measured by ELISA method. As a result of our study, there was a statistically significant difference in median laminin levels between gastric cancer patients and healthy donors (p <0.0001). Serum laminin levels were significantly higher in patients with advanced T-category (T3 and T4) (p <0.001), lymph node metastasis (p <0.001) and advanced TNM stage (stage III or IV) (p <0.001). High preoperative serum laminin levels correlated with the presence of metastases. Serum laminin concentration can be used to identify persons with a high risk of stomach cancer. For this reason, new features of the laminin molecule should be investigated and extensive studies with more patient groups are needed. Key words: Gastric Cancer, Laminin.