Expression and clinical significance of isoprenyl carboxyl methyltransferase in gastric cancer tissues

Objective To study the expression level of isoprenyl carboxyl methyltransferase（ICMT）in gastric cancer and its effect on disease progression. Methods A clinical retrospective study was conducted on 60 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer who underwent surgical treatment at Lanzhou University Second Hospital between May and September 2022. The expression levels of ICMT mRNA and protein in tumor tissue and adjacent tissue were compared using immunohistochemistry（IHC） and polymerase chain reaction （PCR） techniques. The correlation between ICMT expression levels and patient clinical characteristics was analyzed. Results IHC showed structural disorganization of tumor tissue，scattered cell arrangement，and loss of polarity. The number of positive ICMT protein granules in gastric tumor tissue was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues. PCR showed that the expression levels of ICMT mRNA in gastric tumor tissue were significantly higher than those in adjacent tissue（P cardiac cancer > gastric antrum cancer（χ2＝7.161，P=0.028）,（2）Lauren’s classification：mixed > intestinal > diffuse（χ2=13.153，P=0.001）,（3）grades of differentiation：poorly differentiated >moderately to well differentiated（χ2=7.625，P=0.006）,（4）T stage：（T3 +T4）stage >（T1 +T2）stage（χ2= 5.740，P=0.017）,（5）p53 protein expression（based on the conclusions of the patients’pathology reports）：mutated type > wild type（χ2=5.831，P=0.016）. Conclusion ICMT is highly expressed in gastric cancer，and the difference in expression isassociated with the location of the lesion，degree of differentiation，and stage of gastric cancer. p53 mutation may be the basis for the high expression of ICMT in gastric tumor tissue.