Abstract

Gastric cancer is an intractable disease with a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Its treatment remains a major clinical challenge worldwide. Ephrin‑B2 is upregulated and involved in tumor growth in various types of cancer. However, the association between ephrin‑B2 and prognosis of gastric cancer, and the potential of ephrin‑B2 as a therapeutic target remains unknown. The present study investigated ephrin‑B2 as a prognostic factor and a therapeutic target for gastric cancer. Reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect the protein expression level of ephrin‑B2 in gastric cancer serum samples (n=162) and healthy serum samples (n=165). It was revealed that the protein expression level of ephrin‑B2 was significantly upregulated in gastric cancer serum samples compared with the healthy samples. Ephrin‑B2 protein expression was associated with tumor size (P<0.001), metastasis (P=0.02) and TNM stage (P=0.03), and was indicated to be an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer. Furthermore, the Kaplan‑Meier survival curve demonstrated that patients with high ephrin‑B2 protein expression had shorter overall and progression‑free survival rates than those with low ephrin‑B2 protein expression. Ephrin‑B2 protein expression was induced by small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection of HGC27 and MKN‑45 cells, significantly impeding cell viability and inducing apoptosis of HGC27 and MKN‑45 cells compared with the respective negative control (NC) group. Thus, to the best of our knowledge, the present study indicates that ephrin‑B2 functions as an oncogene in gastric cancer, and that serum ephrin‑B2 level may be a promising non‑invasive prognostic indicator, as well as a therapeutic target for gastric cancer.