TY  - EJOU
AU  - Kim, Kyungeun 
AU  - Cho, Eunho 
AU  - Chung, Eun Joo 
AU  - Song, Kwon-Ho 
AU  - Kim, Tae Woo 
AU  - Chae, Seoung Wan 
AU  - Chung, Joon-Yong 

TI  - Prognostic Significance and Functional Role of PPIB in a Retrospective Cohort of Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer
T2  - Oncology Research

PY  - 2026
VL  - 34
IS  - 9
SN  - 1555-3906

AB  - <b>Objectives:</b> Gastric cancer remains a major global health burden, and robust biomarkers are needed to improve risk stratification. Although peptidyl-prolyl isomerase B (PPIB) has been suggested as a potential oncogenic factor, its clinical utility in gastric cancer remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of <i>PPIB</i> mRNA expression and delineate its functional role in driving tumor progression. <b>Methods:</b> <i>PPIB</i> mRNA expression was evaluated in a retrospective cohort of 497 gastric cancer patients using RNAscope <i>in situ</i> hybridization and digital image analysis. Functional roles and underlying mechanism were assessed through siRNA-mediated knockdown, plasmid-driven overexpression, and STAT3-targeted rescue experiments <i>in vitro</i>. <b>Results:</b> High <i>PPIB</i> expression was significantly associated with aggressive clinicopathological features, including larger tumor size, advanced T stage, and lymph node metastasis. Patients with high <i>PPIB</i> expression had significantly worse progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared to those with low expression, particularly in advanced stage. Multivariate analysis identified high <i>PPIB</i> expression as an independent predictor of poor PFS and OS. Functionally, <i>PPIB</i> silencing suppressed gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, whereas its overexpression enhanced these oncogenic behaviors in both cancerous and non-tumorigenic cells. These aggressive phenotypes were effectively mitigated through STAT3 targeted functional rescue experiments. <b>Conclusions:</b> PPIB is a robust independent prognostic biomarker for gastric cancer, especially in advanced stages. Its role in driving aggressive phenotypes via STAT3 signaling underscore its potential for risk stratification and as a therapeutic target.
KW  - Gastric cancer; peptidyl-prolyl isomerase B; cyclophilin B; prognostic biomarker; tumorigenicity

DO  - 10.32604/or.2026.083437