The expression of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 in gastric cancer tissues and their relationship with prognosis

Ban Zhichao; Zhou Yizhai; Chang Liming; Zhang Jiaming

doi:10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.04.013

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Electronic Journal of Metabolism and Nutrition of Cancer ›› 2026, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (4) : 547-554. DOI: 10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.04.013

Original Articles

The expression of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 in gastric cancer tissues and their relationship with prognosis

Ban Zhichao, Zhou Yizhai, Chang Liming, Zhang Jiaming

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Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 1 (NFE2L1) and tripartite motif-containing protein 26 (TRIM26) in gastric cancer tissues and their correlation with patient prognosis. Method A total of 80 patients with gastric cancer admitted between March 2022 and March 2024 were enrolled from the electronic medical record system of our hospital. Patients were divided into the poor prognosis group and the good prognosis group according to the occurrence of death, tumor progression or severe complications within 1 year of follow-up. The mRNA expression levels of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 in gastric cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The protein expressions of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 were determined by immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to screen prognostic risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and decision curve analysis (DCA) were adopted to evaluate the prognostic predictive efficiency of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 mRNA. Result The mRNA expressions and positive protein rates of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 were significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues than in adjacent normal tissues (P＜0.05), and their expressions were correlated with TNM stage (P＜0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the 1-year survival rates of patients with positive NFE2L1 and TRIM26 expression were 75.44% and 73.58%, which were markedly lower than those of patients with negative expression (95.65% and 96.30%, log-rank χ²=4.243, 5.972; P=0.039, 0.015). The mRNA levels of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 in the poor prognosis group were significantly higher than those in the good prognosis group (P＜0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis identified TNM stage, NFE2L1 and TRIM26 as independent risk factors for poor prognosis (P＜0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of combined NFE2L1 and TRIM26 mRNA for predicting poor prognosis was 0.944 (95%CI=0.890-0.999), which was significantly higher than the AUC of NFE2L1 alone (0.815, 95%CI=0.710-0.920, Z=2.152, P=0.031) and TRIM26 alone (0.837, 95%CI=0.747-0.927, Z=2.007, P=0.037). DCA demonstrated that the combined detection yielded a higher net clinical benefit within the high-risk threshold range of 0.10 to 0.99. Conclusion The expression levels of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 are upregulated in gastric cancer tissues, and their combined detection exhibits high efficiency in predicting the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.

Key words

Gastric cancer / Nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 1 / Tripartite motif-containing protein 26 / Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR / Immunohistochemistry / Clinicopathological features / Prognosis / Prediction

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Ban Zhichao, Zhou Yizhai, Chang Liming, Zhang Jiaming. The expression of NFE2L1 and TRIM26 in gastric cancer tissues and their relationship with prognosis[J]. Electronic Journal of Metabolism and Nutrition of Cancer. 2026, 13(4): 547-554 https://doi.org/10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.04.013

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