Decreased Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) expression may correlate with poor survival in gastric adenocarcinoma

Kruppel-like factors (KLFs) play either anti- or pro-proliferation roles in different human cancers. Here, we investigated the expression of KLF4 in gastric cancers and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters and overall survival. KLF4 expression was measured in 118 surgical specimens by immunohistochemical microarray assay. No association of cytoplasmic KLF4 expression with gender, TNM status, stage, survival, and pathological type was found. Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, significantly higher overall survival rate was observed in patients with high cytoplasmic KLF4 expression compared to low cytoplasmic KLF4 expression. Univariate analysis revealed that cytoplasmic KLF4 expression, grade, histological type, lymph node metastasis, and stages were correlated to longer overall survival. Our results suggest that KLF4 may play an anti-oncogenic role in gastric tumorigenesis.