Oct-4 is associated with gastric cancer progression and prognosis.

Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of Oct-4 in the development and progression of gastric cancer.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze Oct-4 expression in 412 gastric cancer cases. Oct-4 protein levels were upregulated in gastric cancer tissues compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues.

Results: Positive expression of Oct-4 correlated with age, depth of invasion, Lauren classification, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and TNM stage. In stages I, II, and III, the 5-year survival rate of patients with high expression of Oct-4 was significantly lower than that in patients with low expression of Oct-4. In stage IV, Oct-4 expression did not correlate with the 5-year survival rate. Furthermore, multivariate analysis suggested that the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, TNM stage, and upregulation of Oct-4 were independent prognostic factors of gastric cancer.

Conclusions: Oct-4 protein is a useful marker in predicting tumor progression and prognosis.