Significance of expression of heat shock protein90α in human gastric cancer

AIM: To evaluate the significance of hsp90α expression in human gastric cancer tissues. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining was used in clinical specimens from 33 cases of gastric cancer and 33 cases of gastritis with rabbit anti-human hsp90α multi-clonal antibody in order to explore the relationship between the expression of hsp90α in gastric carcinoma tissue and gastritis tissue as well as in mucous membrane adjacent to cancer and lymph node metastasis.RESULTS: Hsp90α was detected in 88% of gastric carcinoma cases and 55 % of gastritis cases. The hsp90α positive rate in gastric cancer group was significantly higher than that in gastritis group (P<0.01, P=0.005). The hsp90α positive rate in gastric cancer and in mucous membrane adjacent to cancer was 88% and 55 % respectively (P<0.01,P=0.005). The hsp90α positive rate in lymph node metastasis group and non-lymph node metastasis group was 100% and 60% respectively, and a significant correlation between hsp90α expression and lymph node metastasis was shown (P<0.01,P=0.005). CONCLUSION: The hsp90α expression rate in gastric cancer group was significantly higher than that in gastritis group as well as that in the group of mucous membrane adjacent tocancer. The hsp90α expression in lymphatic node metastasis group was higher than that in non-lymphatic node metastasisgroup. The results indicate that increased hsp90α expression has a close relationship with occurrence and lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer.     

Expression of G3BP and RhoC in esophageal squamous carcinoma and their effect on prognosis

AIM： To investigate the expression and significance of G3BP and RhoC proteins in esophageal squamous carcinoma （ESC）.
METHODS： The expression of G3BP and Rhoc proteins in 80 cases of ESC was detected by immunohistochemistry. The relationship was studied between the expression of the two proteins and tumor size, differentiation degree, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and prognosis of ESC.
RESULTS： The positive expression rate of G3BP in ESC was 71.25%; and the rate in the lymph node metastasis group was significantly higher than that in the nonlymph node metastasis group （Z = -2.283, P = 0.022）, but no relations were found between G3BP expression and tumor size, differentiation degree and TNM stage （P 〉 0.05）. The group with G3BP positive expression had shorter survival time than the group with G3BP negative expression （P = 0.000）. The positive expression rate of RhoC in ESC was 66.25%; and the rate in the lymph node metastasis group was significantly higher than that in the non-lymph node metastasis group （Z = -2.115, P 〈 0.05）, but no relations were found between RhoC expression and tumor size, differentiation degree and TNM stage （P 〉 0.05）. The RhoC positive expression group had a shorter survival time than the RhoC negative expression group （P 〈 0.001. The expression of G3BP protein correlated positively with the expression of RhoC in ESC tissues （rs = 0.656, P 〈 0.001）.
CONCLUSION： The expression of G3BP and RhoC protein is closely related to the lymph node metastasis and survival in ESC patients. G3BP and RhoC proteins can be considered as predictors of prognosis in ESC patients.     

Significance of vascular endothelial growth factor expression and its correlation with inducible nitric oxide synthase in gastric cancer

AIM:To investigate the clinical significance of the expression of VEGF165mRNA and the correlation with vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) protein and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNO) in human gastric cancer.METHODS:We tested VEGF165mRNA expression in 31 cases of resected gastric cancer specimens and normal paired gastric mucosae by RT-PCR.Total RNA was extracted with TRIzol reagents,transcribed into cDNA with gligo (dT15) priming,inner controlled with β-actin expression and agarose gel isolated after PCR.VEGF expression was quantitated with IS1000 imaging system.Meanwhile we also examined expression levels of VEGF protein and iNOS in 85 cases of gastric cancer.All paraffin-embedded samples were immunohistochimically stained by streptavidin-peroxidase method (SP).RESULTS:The mean expression of VEGF165mRNA in gastric cancer was 1.125±0.356,significantly higher than that of normal paired mucosea,which was 0.760±0.278.The data indicated that the expression level of VEGF165mRNA was well related to lymph node metastasis and TNM stages of UICC.The expression levels in patients with lymph node metastasis and without lhmph node metastasis were 1.219±0.377 and 0.927±0.205 respectively (p<0.05),The expression in stages Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ was 0.934±0.194,1.262±0.386 respectively (p<0.01).Further analysis showed the lymph node metastasis rate in the group with over-expression of VEGF was higher than that in the group with low expression of VEGF(83.3% vs 46.2%),and the ratio of stage Ⅲ+Ⅳ in the group with over-expression of VEGF was also higher than that in the group with low expression with VEGF (77.8% vs 33.8%)(p<0.05).The positive rates of expression of VEGF protein and iNOS in 85 cases of gastric cancer were 75.4% and 58.8% respectively,and 50.1% of the patients showed positive staining both for iNOS and VEGF,the correlation with the two tactors was significant (p=0.018).But more intensive analysis showed the immunoreactive grades of VEGF were not associated with that of iNOS.CONCLUSIONS:The expression of VEGF165mRNA is well related with lymph node metastasis and TNM stages of UICC in gastric cancer of gastric cancer.The relationship can be observed between the expression of VEGF and iNOS in gastric cancer.     

Expression transformation of claudin-1 in the process of gastric adenocarcinoma invasion

AIM： To investigate the relation of expression transformation of claudin-1 with invasiveness and metastasis of gastric carcinoma. METHODS： By using immunohistochemistry, expression of claudin-1 in mucosa and invasive front of 136 gastric adenocarcinoma cases and proliferative index （Ki-67） were detected and analyzed. RESULTS： In mucosa, the claudin-1 over-expression rate of mucinous adenocarcinomas （including signetring cell carcinomas） was the highest. It was negatively related with the differentiation but positively related with the invasiveness and metastasis of gastric cancer. In invasive front, the claudin-1 over-expression rate was positively related with the differentiation, invasiveness and metastasis of gastric carcinoma. The expression transformation of claudin-1 was found in gastric carcinoma. The expression of claudin-1 in invasive front was transformed in 28/136 gastric carcinoma cases. The transformation rate in highly differentiated tubular adenocarcinomas was the highest （51.5%, 17/33）. The deeper was the invasiveness, the higher was the transformation rate. The claudin-1 expression transformation rate in serosa and omenta was significantly higher （92.9%） than in tunica muscularis of invasive gastric cancer cases, as well as in patients with lymph node metastasis than in those without lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION： Up-regulation of claudin-1 expression and its transformation in invasive and metastatic gastric carcinoma suggest that claudin-1 participates in the transformation of biological behaviors in neo- plasms. Further study is needed to elucidate the precise mechanism and the relation of claudin-1 expression with the neoplasm progress.     

DNA ploidy analysis and expression of MMP-9, TIMP-2, and E-cadherin in gastric carcinoma

AIM: To investigate DNA ploidy and expression of MMP-9, TIMP-2, and E-cadherin in gastric carcinoma and to explore the mechanism of invasion and metastasis of gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Immunohistochemical methods were used to detect the expressions of MMP-9, TIMP-2, and E-cadherin in 156 cases, including 99 cases of gastric carcinoma, 16 cases of adjacent noncancerous mucosa, 16 cases of distant metastases and 25 cases of metastatic lymph node (LN) from gastric carcinoma. Flow cytometry DNA ploidy and S-phase fraction (SPF) analysis were performed on 57 cases, including 47 cases of gastric cancer, 6 cases of adjacent noncancerous mucosa, and 4 cases of distant metastatic cancer. RESULTS: The expression of MMP-9 was significantly correlated with Lauren's classification, Borrmann's classification, LN metastasis, tumor metastasis, and TNM stage, as well as depth of invasion (all P<0.05). The positive rate was lower in noncarcinoma than in carcinoma (31.3% vs66.7%, P<0.01). The expression of TIMP-2 was significantly correlated with Borrmann's classification, LN metastasis, and the depth of invasion (all P<0.05), The expression of E-cadherin was significantly correlated with differentiation, Lauren's classification, Borrmann's classification, and LN metastasis, as well as the depth of invasion (P<0,01 or P<0.05). E-cadherin was less expressed in carcinoma than in noncarcinoma (42.4% vs87.5%, P<0.01). There was a positive correlation between MMP-9 and TIMP-2 and a negative correlation between MMP-9 and E-cadherin, but no correlation between TIMP-2 and E-cadherin. Also there was a positive correlation between DNA aneuploid rate and differentiation and LN metastasis. SPF that was higher than 15% was positively correlated with tumor size, differentiation and LN metastasis. And there was a significant difference between carcinoma and noncarcinoma in DNA aneuploid rate and SPF. CONCLUSION: With tumor progression and development of heterogeneity, the abnormal expressions of MMP-9, TIMP-2, and E-cadherin or DNA aneuploid rate or high SPF gradually increases, suggesting that they play a crucial role in gastric carcinoma progression.     

Dynamic expression of pepsinogen C in gastric cancer, precancerous lesions and Helicobacter pylori associated gastric diseases

AIM: To investigate the relationship between the expression of pepsinogen C (PGC) and gastric cancer, precancerous diseases, and Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection. METHODS: The expression of PGC was determined by immunohistochemistry method in 430 cases of gastric mucosa. H3 Pylori infection was determined by HE staining, PCR and ELISA in 318 specimens. RESULTS: The positive rate of PGC expression in 54 cases of normal gastric mucosa was 100%. The positive rates of PGC expression in superficial gastritis or gastric ulcer or erosion, atrophic gastritis or gastric dysplasia and gastric cancer decreased significantly in sequence (P<0.05; 100%/89.2% vs 14.3%/15.2% vs 2.4%). The over-expression rate of PGC in group of superficial gastritis with H pyloriinfection was higher than that in group without H pylori infection (P<0.05; x2= 0.032 28/33 vs 15/25). The positive rate of PGC expression in group of atrophic gastritis with H pylori infection was lower than that in group without H pylori infection (P<0.01; x2 = 0.003 4/61 vs9/30), and in dysplasia and gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: The level of PGC expression has a close relationship with the degree of malignancy of gastric mucosa and development of gastric lesions. There is a relationship between H pylori infection and expression of antigen PGC in gastric mucosa, the positive rate of PGC expression increases in early stage of gastric lesions with H pylori infection such as gastric inflammation and decreases during the late stage such as precancerous diseases and gastric cancer. PGC-negative cases with H py/ori-positive gastric lesions should be given special attention.     

Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in colorectal cancer and its clinical significance

AIM: To clarify the clinicopathologic significance of COX-2 expression in human colorectal cancer. METHODS: A total of 128 surgically resected colorectal cancer specimens were immunohistochemically analyzed with the use of anti-COX-2, anti-VEGF and anti-MMP-2 antibodies. The relationship between the cyclooxygenase-2 expression in primary lesions of colorectal cancer and clinicopathoiogic parameters was evaluated by chi-square test. RESULTS: Among 128 cases of colorectal cancer, 87 (67.9%) were positive for cyclooxygenase-2. The expression of cyclooxygenase-2 was significantly correlated with the depth of invasion, stage of disease, and metastasis (lymph node and liver). Patients in T3-T4, stages Ⅲ-Ⅳand with metastasis had much higher expression of cyclooxygenase-2 than ones in T1-T2, stages Ⅰ-Ⅱ and without metastasis (P<0.05). Among 45 cases of colorectal cancer with lymph node metastasis, the COX-2-positive rate was 86.7% (39/45) for primary lesions and diffuse cytoplasmic staining for COX-2 protein was detected in cancer cells in 100% of metastatic lesions of the lymph nodes. VEGF expression was detected in 49 tumors (38.3%), and VEGF expression was closely correlated with COX-2 expression. The positive expression rate of VEGF (81.6%) in the cyclooxygenase-2-positive group was higher than that in the cyclooxygenase-2-negative group (18.4%, P<0.05). MMP-2 expression was detected in 88 tumors (68.8%), and MMP-2 expression was closely correlated with COX-2 expression. The positive expression rate of MMP-2 (79.6%) in the positive COX-2 group was higher than that in the negative COX-2 group (20.4%, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Cyclooxygenase-2 may be associated with tumor progression by modulating the angiogenesis and cancer cell motility and invasive potential in colorectal cancer and it can be used as a possible biomarker.     

Expression of cell cycle regulator p57^kip2, cyclinE protein and proliferating cell nuclear antigen in human pancreatic cancer： An immunohistochemical study

AIM: To investigate the effects of p57kip2, cyclinE protein and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) on occurrence and progression of human pancreatic cancer. METHODS: The expression of p57kip2, cyclinE protein and PCNA in tumor tissues and adjacent tissues from 32 patients with pancreatic cancer was detected by SP immunohistochemical technique. RESULTS: The positive expression rate of p57kip2 protein in tumor tissues was 46.9%, which was lower than that in adjacent pancreatic tissues (x2 = 5.317, P<0.05). p57kip2 protein positive expression remarkably correlated with tumor cell differentiation (P<0.05), but not with lymph node metastasis (P>0.05). The positive expression rate of cyclinE protein in tumor tissues was 68.8%, which was higher than that in adjacent pancreatic tissues (x2 = 4.063, P<0.05). CyclinE protein positive expression significantly correlated with tumor cell differentiation and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The positive expression rate of PCNA in the tumor tissues was 71.9%, which was higher than that in adjacent pancreatic tissues (x2 = 5.189, P<0.05). PCNA positive expression remarkably correlated with tumor cell differentiation and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The decreased expression of p57kip2 and/or overexpression of cyclinE protein and PCNA may contribute to the occurrence and progression of pancreatic cancer. p57kip2, cyclinE protein, and PCNA play an important role in occurrence and progression of pancreatic cancer.     

Pathobiological significance of vascular endothelial growth factor and Maspin expressions in human gastric carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the correlation between expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cell differentiation, invasion, metastasis and Maspin expression in gastric carcinoma.METHODS: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 73 cases of gastric carcinoma were studied with SP immunohistochemistry, using anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, and thirty-nine of them were studied using antiMaspin monoclonal antibody. VEGF expression was compared with the clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and Borrmann‘s and WHO‘s classification of gastric carcinoma.RESULTS: The positive rate of VEGF expression was significantly higher in adjacent non-carcinoma epithelia (ANCE) than in non-metaplastic, non-carcinoma gastric epithelia (NMNCE), which were at least 4 cm distant from the primary tumor (P = 0.000, x^2= 73.03). The positive rate of VEGF expression was significantly higher in advanced gastric carcinoma (AGC) than in early gastric carcinoma (EGC) (P = 0.032, x^2 = 4.62). The positive rate of VEGF expression in gastric carcinomas with lymph node metastases was significantly higher than that in those without metastasis (P = 0.006, x^2 = 7.47). Maspin was weakly expressed in 16 out of 39 cases of NMNCE, and the positive immunoreaction was limited to gland cells of the stomach body. There was no significant correlation between the expression of VEGF and histological or gross classifications, and correlation between the expressions of VEGF and Maspin in gastric carcinoma (P = 0.648, x^2 = 0.21).CONCLUSION: Expression of VEGF is significantly correlated to the malignant biological behaviors of gastric carcinoma,but there is no significant correlation between the expression of VEGF and Maspin.     

Expression of gastric cancer—associated MG7 antigen in gastric cancer,precancerous lesions and H.pylori—associated gastric diseases

AIM: To investigate the relationship between the antigen MG7 antigen expression and gastric cancer as well as precancerous condition; to study the relationship between the MG7 antigen expression and H. pyloriinfection in benign gastric lesions in order to find out the effect of H. pylori infection on the process of gastric cancer development.METHODS: The level of MG7 antigen expression was determined by immunohistochemical method in 383 gastric biopsied materials. The intestinal metaplasia was determined by histochemistry method. The H. pyloriinfection was determined by HE stain, PCR and ELISA in 291 specimens, among which only 34 cases of H. pylori-associated gastric lesions were followed up.RESULTS: The positive rate of MG7 expression in normal gastric mucosa, intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia and gastric cancer increased gradually in ascending order (P＜0.01). The positive rate of MG7 antigen expression in type Ⅲ intestinal metaplasia of gastric mucosa was higher than that of type Ⅰand Ⅱ intestinal metaplasia, being highly significant (P＜0.05).The positive rate of MG7 antigen expression in superficial gastritis, atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer increased gradually (11.9 %, 64.8 %, 91.2 %, P＜0.01). There was no significant difference between H.pylori-negative and H. pyloripositive intestinal metaplasia, atrophic gastritis and dysplasia of gastric epithelium in the positive rate of MG7 antigen expression. There was no expression of MG7 antigen in H. pylori-negative superficial gastritis. The positive rate of MG7 expression in H. pylori-positive superficial gastritis was 20.5 %, and the difference between them was significant (P＜0.05). During following up, one of the three H. pylori negative cases turned positive again, and its MG7 antigen expression turned to be stronger correspondingly. 3 of 31 H. pyloripositive cases were detected as early gastric cancer, among which one with "+++" MG7 antigen expression was diminished after H. pylori eradication.CONCLUSION: MG7 antigen expression is highly specific in gastric cancer and can be used as a good marker for screening of gastric cancer; type Ⅲ intestinal metaplasia, atrophic gastritis and dysplasia should be followed up and MG7 antigen expression has high clinical value in the dynamic follow-up study; although the positive -MG7 in positiveH. pylorisuperficial gastritis show benign morphology in features, there is still the potential risk of developing into gastric cancer, hence special attention should be paid to those showing increasing MG7 antigen expression.     

Significance of vascular endothelial growth factor expression and its correlation with inducible nitric oxide synthase in gastric cancer

AIM:To investigate the clinical significance of theexpression of VEGF_(165)mRNA and the correlation withvascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein andinducible nitric oxide synthase (iNO) in human gastriccancer.METHODS:We tested VEGF_(165)mRNA expression in 31 casesof resected gastric cancer specimens and normal pairedgastric mucosae by RT-PCR.Total RNA was extracted withTRIzol reagents,transcribed into cDNA with oligo (dT_(15))priming,inner controlled with β-actin expression andagarose gel isolated after PCR.VEGF expression wasquantitated with IS1000 imaging system.Meanwhile wealso examined expression levels of VEGF protein and iNOSin 85 cases of gastric cancer.All paraffin-embeddedsamples were immunohistochemically stained by streptavidin-peroxidase method (SP).RESULTS:The mean expression of VEGF_(165)mRNA ingastric cancer was 1.125±0.356,significantly higher thanthat of normal paired mucosae,which was 0.7604±0.278.The data indicated that the expression level ofVEGF_(165)mRNA was well related to lymph node metastasisand TNM stages of UICC.The expression levels in patientswith lymph node metastasis and without lymph nodemetastasis were 1.219±0.377 and 0.927±0.205 respectively(P<0.05).The expression in stages Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ was0.934±0.194,1.262±0.386 respectively (P<0.01).Furtheranalysis showed the lymph node metastasis rate in thegroup with over-expression of VEGF was higher than thatin the group with low expression of VEGF (83.3% vs 46.2%),and the ratio of stage Ⅲ Ⅳ in the group with over-expression of VEGF was also higher than that in the groupwith low expression with VEGF (77.8% vs 33.8%) (P<0.05).The positive rates of expression of VEGF protein and iNOSin 85 cases of gastric cancer were 75.4% and 58.8%respectively,and 50.1% of the patients showed positivestaining both for iNOS and VEGF,the correlation with thetwo factors was significant (P=0.018).But more intensive analysis showed the immunoreactive grades of VEGF werenot associated with that of iNOS.CONCLUSIONS:The expression of VEGF_(165)mRNA is wellrelated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stages of UlCCin gastric cancer,and is concerned with the invasivenessand metastasis of gastric cancer.The relationship can beobserved between the expression of VEGF and iNOS in gastriccancer.     

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C and the relationship between lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis in colorectal cancer

AIM:To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C(VEGF-C)and the relationship between VEGF- C and lymphangiogenesis,lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer. METHODS:Fifty six cases of colorectal cancer were selected randomly.Expression of VEGF-C was detected by immuno- histochemistry,and lymphatic vessels were stained by enzyme histochemical method. RESULTS:VEGF-C expression was found in 66.7%(37/56) patients.In VEGF-C positive and negative patients,the lymphatic vessel density was 25.16±7.52 and 17.14±7.22, respectively(P<0.05).The rate of lymph node metastasis in VEGF-C positive patients(81.1%)was significantly higher than that in the negative group(42.1%). CONCLUSION:VEGF-C expression may induce lymphangi- ogenesis in colorectal cancer,as a result,tumor cells can entry the lymphatic vessels easily.VEGF-C may serve as a useful prognotic factor in colorectal carcinoma.     

Significance and relationship between Yes-associated protein and survivin expression in gastric carcinoma and precancerous lesions

AIM： To analyze the differences and relevance of Yesassociated protein （YAP） and survivin, and to explore the correlation and significance of their expression in gastric carcinoma and precancerous lesions.
METHODS： The PV9000 immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of YAP and survivin in 98 cases of normal gastric mucosa, 58 intestinal metaplasia （IM）, 32 dysplasia and 98 gastric carcinoma.
RESULTS： The positive rates of YAP in dysplasia （37.5%） and gastric carcinoma （48.0%） were significantly higher than that in normal gastric mucosa （13.3%）, P 〈 0.01. The positive rates of survivin in IM （53.4%）, dysplasia （59.4%） and gastric carcinoma （65.3%） were significantly higher than in normal gastric mucosa （11.2%）, P 〈 0.01. Survivin expression gradually increased from 41.7% in well differentiated adenocarcinoma through 58.3% in moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma to 75.6% in poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, with significant Rank correlation, rk = 0.279, P 〈 0.01. The positive rate of survivin in gastric carcinoma of diffused type （74.6%） was significantly higher than that in intestinal type （51.3%）, P 〈 0.05. In gastric carcinoma with lymph node metastasis （76.9%）, the positive rate of survivin was significantly higher than that in the group without lymph node metastasis （41.2%）, P 〈 0.01. In 98 cases of gastric carcinoma, the expression of YAP and of survivin were positively correlated, rk = 0.246, P 〈 0.01.
CONCLUSION： YAP may play an important role as a carcinogenic factor and may induce survivin expression. Detecting both markers together may help in early diagnosis of gastric carcinoma.     

Pathobiological significance of vascular endothelial growth factor and Maspin expressions in human gastric carcinoma

AIM:To investigate the correlation between expressionof vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and celldifferentiation,invasion,metastasis and Naspin expressionin gastric carcinoma.METHODS:Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissuespecimens from 73 cases of gastric carcinoma were studiedwith SP immunohistochemistry,using anti-VEGF monoclonalantibody,and thirty-nine of them were studied using anti-Maspin monoclonal antibody.VEGF expression was comparedwith the dinical stage,lymph node metastasis,and Borrrnann'sand WHO's classification of gastric carcinoma.RESULTS:The positive rate of VEGF expression wassignificantly higher in adjacent non-carcinoma epithelia(ANCE) than in non-metaplastic,non-carcinoma gastricepithelia (NMNCE),which were at least 4 cm distant fromthe primary tumor (P=0.000,X~2=73.03).The positiverate of VEGF expression was significantly higher in advancedgastric carcinoma (AGC) than in early gastric carcinoma(EGC) (P=0.032,X~2=4.62).The positive rate of VEGFexpression in gastric carcinomas with lymph node metastaseswas significantly higher than that in those without metastasis(P=0.006,X~2=7.47).Maspin was weakly expressed in 16out of 39 cases of NINCE,and the positive immunoreactionwas limited to gland cells of the stomach body.There wasno significant correlation between the expression of VEGFand histological or gross classifications,and correlationbetween the expressions of VEGF and laspin in gastriccarcinoma (P=0.648,X~2=0.21).CONCLUSION:Expression of VEGF is significantly correlatedto the malignant biological behaviors of gastric carcinoma,but there is no significant correlation between the expressionof VEGF and Maspin.     

Significance of effector protease receptor-1 expression and its relationship with proliferation and apoptotic index in patients with primary advanced gastric adenocarcinoma

AIM:To investigate the expression of effector proteasereceptor-1 (EPR-1),proliferative index ki-67 and apoptosisindex in patients with primary advanced gastricadenocarcinoma and to clarify the significance of EPR-1expression and its correlationship with the proliferationand apoptosis indexes.METHODS:Using immunohistochemical staining andterminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick endlabelling (TUNEL) technique,we determined the expressionof EPR-1,proliferative index (Ki-67) and apoptotic index(AI) in 120 paraffin-embedded specimens of primaryadvanced gastric adenocarcinoma as well as lymph nodemetastasis and adjacent normal tissues.RESULTS:EPR-1 expression was distributed in thecytoplasm of normal gastric mycoderma,carcinoma cellsand smooth muscle cells.The positive rate of EPR-1expression in the primary gastric adenocarcinomas,invasiontumor node and lymph node metastasis was 65.83%,55.29%and 68%,respectively.While the positive rate in normalgastric mycoderma and smooth muscle cells was 46.7%and 53.3%,respectively.The average positive rate of ki-67in EPR-1-positive tumors was 7.00% which was significantlylower than that of 8.53% in EPR-1-negative tumors,butthe average AI in EPR-1-positive tumors was 1.25%,whichwas significantly higher than that of 1.00% observed inEPR-1-negative tumors.On the other hand,the averagepositive labeling index for Ki-67 (ki-67) in EPR-1-positivelymph node metastasis was 7.65%,which was significantlylower than that of 9.44% observed in EPR-1-negative lymphnode metastasis.However,the average AI in EPR-1-positivelymph node metastasis tumors was 0.99%,which wassignificantly higher than that of 0.67% observed in EPR-1-negative lymph node metastasis.CONCLUSION:The frequency of EPR-1 expression wassignificantly higher in primary gastric adenocarcinoma andin its lymph node metastasis than that in normal gastricmucosa.Expression of EPR-1 was significantly correlatedwith tumor histological subtypes and tumor differentiation.Weighted EPR-1 Score is positively correlated with apoptosis index,but is negatively related with proliferative index.Thus,Weighted EPR-1 Score and EPR-1 expression ingastric adenocarcinoma cells maybe a potential marker inclinical setting.     

Expression of HSP90 and HIF-1α in human colorectal cancer tissue and its significance

Objective:To investigate the expression of HSP90 and HIF-1αin human colorectal cancer tissue,the influence of HSP90 and HIF-1αon human colorectal cancer biological behavior and their related factors.Methods:The expression of HSP90 and HIF-1 a protein in human colorectal cancer as well as normal tissue were detected by imnmnohistochemical method.Results:The positive expression rates of HSP90 and HIF-1αprotein in normal human colorectal tissue as well as colorectal cancer tissue were 30%vs.63.0%,15.0%vs.71.7%,respectively.There were significant difference(P=0.035 and P=0.005 respectively).The expression of HSP90 was significantly correlated with the differentiation,Dukes stages and lymph node metastasis(P0.05),while the expression of HIF-1 a was significantly correlated with the Dukes stages and lymph node metastasis(P0.05).Association analysis showed that the expression of HSF90 protein was significantly correlated with that of HIF-1αprotein(P0.01).Conclusions:The expression of HSP90 and HIF—1αprotein may be related to the development,metastasis and invasion of human colorectal cancer,and their synergistic effects may participate in the development of the colorectal carcinoma.     

Increased expression of DLX2 correlates with advanced stage of gastric adenocarcinoma

AIM:To investigate the expression of distal-less homeobox 2 (DLX2) in gastric adenocarcinoma and its clinicopathological significance. METHODS:Gastric adenocarcinoma tissues were obtained from gastrectomy specimens of 129 patients from the Department of Surgery and Pathology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University. Sixty cases of normal gastric tissues were collected from gastrectomy specimens of adjacent gastric cancer margins greater than 5 cm. Patient diagnosis was established pathologically, and no patient had received chemotherapy or radiotherapy before surgery. All tissue specimens were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded. Immunohistochemistry was carried out to investigate the expression of DLX2 in 129 gastric adenocarcinoma tissues and 60 adjacent normal tissues. The immunos-taining reaction was semiquantitatively evaluated based on the proportion of positive cells and the median staining intensity in normal gastric epithelial cells or tumor cells. All patients had follow-up records for more than 5 years. Correlations of DLX2 expression with clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma were analyzed. All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS 17.0 software. RESULTS:The positive expression of DLX2 was detected in 68 (52.7%) cases of 129 gastric adenocarcinoma tissues and 14 (23.3%) cases of 60 adjacent normal tissues. The difference in DLX2 expression between gastric adenocarcinoma tissues and adjacent normal tissues was statistically significant (Ⅹ2 = 14.391, P < 0.001). Moreover, high expression of DLX2 was detected in 48 (37.2%) cases of 129 human gastric cancer tissues, but not in adjacent normal tissues. The expression of DLX2 correlated with the size of tumor (P = 0.001), depth of invasion (P = 0.008), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.023) and tumor-node-metastasis stages (P = 0.020), but was not correlated with age, gender, histological differentiation and distant metastasis. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that s