Nucleosome assembly protein 1-like 1 (NAP1L1) in gastric cancer patients: a potential biomarker with diagnostic and prognostic utility

Background: The nucleosome assembly protein 1-like 1 (NAP1L1) is suggested to have an oncogenic role in several tumors based on its overexpression. However, its diagnostic and prognostic role in gastric cancer remains unclarified. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic utility of NAP1L1 in gastric cancer patients. Methods: A total of 85 patients [mean (SD) age: 60.9 (1.6) years, 49.4% were males] with newly-diagnosed gastric cancer and 40 healthy individuals [mean (SD) age: 60.7 (1.7) years, 52.5% were males] were included. Data on patient demographics (age, gender), TNM stages and tumor size, and the serum NAP1L1 levels were recorded. Results: Serum NAP1L1 levels were significantly higher in gastric cancer patients than in control subjects [12 (9.5-13.8) vs. 1.8 (1.5-2.4) ng/mL, p < 0.001]. Also, certain tumor characteristics such as tumor size of >4 vs. <4 cm (p < 0.001), M1 vs. M0 stage (p < 0.001), N2 vs. N0 and N1 stage (p < 0.001), and T4 vs. lower T stage (p < 0.001) were associated with significantly higher serum NAP1L1 levels in gastric cancer patients. Conclusions: Our findings revealed for the first time that serum levels for NAP1L1 were overexpressed in the gastric cancer, as also correlated with the disease progression. NAP1L1 seems to be a potential biomarker for gastric cancer, providing clinically important information on early diagnosis and risk stratification.