Research Progress on SPARC in Pathogenesis of Gastric Cancer

As one of extracellular glycoproteins, secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) can regulate the interaction between cells and matrix. SPARC, which is tissuespecific plays an important role in the development of many malignant neoplasms, which is tissue-specific. In gastric tissues, SPARC is expressed in carcinoma tissues at a higher level compared with normal mucosa tissues, and mainly located at stromal cells; while in most gastric cancer cells, endogenous SPARC expression is at a low level or even absent. SPARC may negatively modulate several biological behaviors of gastric cancer, such as invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis, but the effect on the proliferation is still controversial. The methylation of SPARC promoter commonly exists in gastric cancer. This review aims to summarize the mechanism of interaction between SPARC and gastric cancer and to explore a new way to early diagnose and treat gastric cancer timely.