Background: KIF20A is well known as one of the key proteins in mitosis. Recently, a number of studies illustrated that KIF20A  might function as an oncogene in some carcinomas. However, its expression levels and clinical value remained unclear in gastric cancer (GC).
Patients and methods: In this study, we investigated the expression of KIF20A in samples from GC patients and cell lines by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot. The function of KIF20A in cell proliferation of GC cell lines was examined via cell viability and colony formation assays. Immunohistochemistry assay based on a tissue microarray consisting of 146 cases was performed to evaluate the prognostic value of KIF20A. The overall survival rate of 122 GC patients based on KIF20A expression was analyzed as well. Finally, using KIF20A inhibitor, genistein, and combining it with cisplatin or fluorouracil, the antitumor effects were studied.
Results: Most GC samples (56.76%) showed higher KIF20A  expression level compared to their corresponding normal specimens, which demonstrated the potential oncogenic role of KIF20A  in GC. The functional studies elucidated the essential role of KIF20A in GC cell proliferation. Besides, tissue microarray result showed that the expression level of KIF20A was significantly related to the histological grades (P =0.036). Furthermore, we found the expression of KIF20A was related to poor overall survival rate, which is coincident with the results from Kaplan–Meier plotter database. In addition, we found that a KIF20A inhibitor, genistein, could enhance the antitumor activity of cisplatin and fluorouracil, which might be considered as a chemosensitive agent in GC.
Conclusion: KIF20A can promote cell proliferation in GC, which might be used as an independent prognostic factor and a potential therapeutic target.
Keywords: KIF20A, genistein, gastric cancer, prognosis