Objective  This study aimed to investigate the expression of rhomboid domain-containing protein 1(RHBDD1)in the tissue of gastric cancer, and to evaluate its relationship with the occurrence and development of gastric cancer.

  Methods  We retrospectively collected the clinical data of patients with gastric cancer, precancerous lesions, or chronic superficial gastritis(CSG)admitted in the Department of Gastroenterology, Beijing Hospital from January 2015 to January 2018. The histopathological diagnosis of the lesions was reinterpreted. According to the type of pathological diagnosis, the lesions were divided into groups of CSG, low-grade gastric intraepithelial neoplasia(LGIN), high-grade gastric intraepithelial neoplasia(HGIN), early gastric cancer(EGC), and advanced gastric cancer(AGC). The positive rate of the expression of RHBDD1 in the gastric tissue was analyzed.

  Results  A total of 76 patients with 152 lesions were enrolled in this study, including CSG 17, LGIN 21, HGIN 54, EGC 44, and AGC 16. The expression of RHBDD1 in chronicgastritis was significantly lower than that in other gastric lesions, including LGIN, HGIN, EGC, and AGC(P=0.001). The general trend of positive RHBDD1 expression in gastric mucosal lesions increased gradually with the severityCSG(35.3%)→precancerous lesions(LGIN+HGIN)(74.7%)→EGC(75.0%)→AGC(87.5%).

  Conclusion  The expression of RHBDD1 in the gastric tissue may provide a useful clue for the differentiation between benign and malignant gastric diseases.