Expression of MUC1 and MUC2 mucins in gastric carcinomas: their relationship with clinicopathologic parameters and prognosis

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between MUC1 and MUC2 mucin expressions and clinicopathologic variables in gastric carcinomas with regard to survival times. MUC1 and MUC2 expressions were revealed immunohistochemically in 143 gastric carcinomas. Of these 143 patients, follow-up data were available for 45 (median survival time of 30 months, ranging from 2 to 80 months). MUC1 was detected in 82 (58%), and MUC2 in 60 (42%) out of 143 cases. Papillary adenocarcinomas showed significantly higher MUC1 and MUC2 immunoreactivity than did signet-ring cell and mucinous tumors (p = 0.045 and p = 0.01, respectively). MUC1 was highly positive in intestinal-type carcinomas (p = 0.006), whereas intestinal and diffuse carcinomas did not differ in MUC2 expression. There was a positive correlation between tumor differentiation and MUC1 expression. However, no correlation was found between MUC1 and MUC2 expressions and angiolymphatic invasion. According to the TNM classification, stage 1A tumors have significantly lower rates of MUC1 reactivity compared to higher stages (p = 0.04). The patients with gastric carcinomas expressing MUC1 showed significantly poorer survival than those without MUC1 expression (p = 0.04). The present study suggests that MUC1 expression be a useful prognostic factor for predicting the outcome of gastric carcinoma patients, whereas the role of MUC2 expression is still unclear.