Kanda M, et al. - Considering that patients with gastric cancer frequently die due to peritoneal metastasis, researchers wanted to find which molecules are responsible for mediating peritoneal metastasis of gastric cancer. Patients with peritoneal recurrence showed a significantly high expression of synaptotagmin XIII (SYT13), but it was not high in those with hepatic or distant lymph node recurrence. Furthermore, inhibition of SYT13 expression in a gastric cancer cell line transfected with SYT13-specific siRNA (siSYT13) was correlated with reduced invasion and migration ability of the cells, but not with proliferation and apoptosis. Thereby suggesting that in gastric cancer, SYT13 expression is linked to perioneal metatases and has potential as a treatment target.