Bioinformatics analysis suggests that COL4A1 may play an important role in gastric carcinoma recurrence

Objective Cancer recurrence is a complicated problem for clinicians that contributes to poor prognosis. This study aimed to use advanced gastric carcinoma genes profiles to predict increased risk of cancer recurrence in order to identify patients in need of adjuvant therapy for prognosis improvement. Methods Differentially expressed genes were identified for advanced gastric carcinoma by analyzing the GSE2685 from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO) using R package. The candidate genes were then obtained by gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, protein‐protein interaction analysis and survival analysis. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between candidate genes and the recurrence of gastric carcinoma. Results Collagen type IV alpha 1 ( COL4A1 ) was overexpressed in gastric carcinoma tissue by analyzing the GSE2685 gene expression profiles from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. COL4A1 was also overexpressed in gastric carcinoma tissue from the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset and further determined that higher COL4A1 expression led to poorer overall survival. A univariate analysis suggested that COL4A1 was strongly correlated with T stage and gastric carcinoma recurrence ( P = 0.014 and 0.041, respectively). Moreover, a multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that COL4A1 was significantly associated with gastric carcinoma recurrence (hazard ratio 1.605, 95% confidence interval 1.063‐2.677, P = 0.008). Conclusions COL4A1 may promote gastric carcinoma recurrence and could be used as a therapeutic target for gastric carcinoma recurrence.