Objective To clarify the role of gastrokine 1 in the process of formation and development of gastric cancer. Methods The expressions of gastrokine 1 in gastric cancer and paracancerous tissues of 52 patients with gastriccancer were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） and immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile the relationship of the expression level of gastrokine 1 with clinicopathologic characteristics were analyzed. Results The expression levels of gastrokine 1 gene and protein in the gastric cancer tissues were significantly lower than those in the paracancerous tissues （P＜0.01）. No significant relationship was found between expression of gastrokine 1 gene and clinicopathologic features including tumor location， depth of invasion， differentiation， lymph node metastasis， tumor stage， gender， age， and preoperative peripheral blood CEA and CA19-9 levels （P＞0.05，respectively）. What’s more， the expression level of gastrokine 1 gene in gastric cancer tissues of Helicobacter pylori （HP）-positive patients was lower than that in the negative ones （P＜0.05）. Conclusions Gastrokine 1 may play a significant role as an anti-oncogene in the process of the formation and development of gastric cancer. Its effect may become weak due to HP infection in gastric cancer patients.
