Correlation between clinicopathology and expression of heat shock protein 72 and glycoprotein 96 in human gastric adenocarcinoma

Heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) and glycoprotein 96 (gp96) are highly expressed in cancer tissues. Recent studies indicate the possible roles of HSP72 and gp96 in the development and progression of gastric carcinomas but detailed information is still ambiguous. In this study, we investigated the correlation between clinicopathology and expression of HSP72 and gp96 in human gastric carcinoma. The expression of HSP72 and gp96 was studied in 60 human gastric carcinomas with or without metastasis as well as in mucous membrane adjacent to cancers by way of immunohistochemistry. HSP72 immunoreactivities were detected in 54 of 60 primary tumors (90.0%) and in 22 of 60 mucous membranes adjacent to cancers (36.7%). Likewise, gp96 immunoreactivities were detected in 49 cases of gastric carcinoma (81.7%) and in 15 samples of mucous membrane adjacent to cancer (25.0%). Both HSP72 and gp96 were stained in cytoplasm. HSP72 and gp96 expression in colonic carcinomas with metastasis was significantly higher than those with non-metastasis (p < 0.05). The results indicate that there exists a significant correlation between the expression of HSP72 and gp96 and the progression of gastric carcinomas. The high-level expression of HSP72 and gp96 may be used as diagnostic or prognostic markers for gastric carcinoma.