To investigate the expression of integrin α2 (ITGA2) and its clinical significance in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

A total of 96 surgically resected GIST tissue specimens were collected from patients diagnosed and surgically treated at the People’s Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region between January 2014 and December 2024. Based on postoperative pathological reports, 41 patients with ITGA2-positive expression were assigned to the observation group, and 55 patients with ITGA2-negative expression were assigned to the control group. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to determine the expression of ITGA2 protein in the tumor tissues. Chi-square tests were used to compare differences in clinicopathological features between the two groups, including analysis of correlations between ITGA2 expression and age, gender, tumor location, depth of invasion, tumor size, tumor risk grade, mitotic count, and expression of SMA, DOG-1, CD34, CD117, S-100, and Desmin.

The positive expression rate of ITGA2 protein in 96 GIST patients was 42.7% (41/96). The proportion of patients with tumor maximum diameter >5 cm in the ITGA2-positive group was significantly higher than that in the ITGA2-negative group [63.4%(26/41) vs 38.2%(21/55), χ²=13.486, P=0.004). The proportion of high-risk patients in the ITGA2-positive group was significantly higher than that in the ITGA2-negative group [58.5%(24/41) vs 27.3%(15/55), χ²=10.518, P=0.001). The ITGA2-positive rate in patients with mitotic count >5/50 HPF was significantly higher than that in patients with mitotic count ≤5/50 HPF [71.4%(10/14) vs 37.8%(31/82), χ²=5.525, P=0.019]. The SMA-positive rate in the ITGA2-positive group was significantly lower than that in the ITGA2-negative group [0(0/41) vs 18.2%(10/55), χ²=8.322, P=0.004). The DOG-1-positive rate in the ITGA2-positive group was significantly higher than that in the ITGA2-negative group [82.9%(34/41) vs 61.8%(34/55), χ²=5.066, P=0.040]. There were no significant different with patient age, gender, tumor location, depth of invasion, or expression of CD34, CD117, S-100, and Desmin between two groups (all P>0.05).

ITGA2 is highly expressed in the tissues of gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and its high expression is closely related to the risk grade of the tumor, which may become a new target for the specific treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor.