1. Caspase 3 expression correlates with patient outcomes in gastric adenocarcinoma after gastrectomy
Taipei Veterans General Hospital,
Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery
National Yang-Ming University
黃國宏 楊慕華 方文良 吳秋文 石宜銘

2. Introduction
Gastric cancer is the 5th most common cancer and 3nd leading cause of cancer related death worldwide
International Journal of Cancer (GLOBOCAN 2012) 2015; 136:E
p<0.001
stage IA (86.9%)
stage IB (83.8%)
stage IIA (75.8%)
stage IIB (63%)
stage IIIA (42.8%)
stage IIIB (31.6%)
stage IIIC (12.7%)
stage IV (8.7%)

3. Introduction
Caspase-3 (CASP3) is a major executioner protein of proteolytic degradation during apoptosis.
Caspase-3 downregulation (CASP3/DR) in tumors frequently confers resistance to cancer therapy and is significantly correlated with a poor prognosis in cancer patients. The role of Caspase 3 in gastric cancer has not been investigated yet.

4. Caspase 3
Apoptosis can be initiated through one of two cell-signaling pathways. Both pathways converge on caspase-3, a protein that acts as the cell’s executioner. PAC-1 (Procaspase Activating Factor-1, see below) bypasses both pathways and initiates apoptosis by inducing procaspase-3 to cleave itself to yield active caspase-3.

5. Patients and Methods
366 gastric cancer patients after curative gastrectomy
Using Immunohistochemical(IHC) stains.
Clinicopathological appearances and survival data were analyzed.
IHC score
0 : < 5 % positive cells,
1+: 5–25 % positive cells
2+:26–75 % positive cells
3+: >75 % positive cells

6. Panoremic Viewer

7. Positive and negative control

8. Immunohistochemical stains

9. -: 241 patients Results 1+: 84 patients 2+: 32 patients 3+: 9 patients
Positive rate--34.2%

12. Overall survival

13. Disease free survival

14. AJCC TNM Stage
Stage I
Stage II
Stage III

16. Discussion
Our studies revealed that gastric cancer patients with Caspase 3 expression had better prognosis than those without.
Caspase 3 could be a potential prognostic biomarker in gastric cancer patients who received curative surgery.

17. Discussion
Caspase 3 expression is associated with better clinicopathological appearances and may act as a tumor suppressor in human gastric cancer.
Further studies, such as in vitro and in vivo studies, are necessary to demonstrate the mechanism of Caspase 3 on the role of carcinogenesis in gastric cancer.

18. Thanks for your attention