title: Helix pomatia agglutinin binding activity and lymph node metastasis in patients with gastric cancer.
abstract: We made use of Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA) staining to examine 218 gastric cancer tissues (163 primary tumors and 55 metastatic lymph nodes), using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method. The positive HPA staining rate was 59% (96/163) for the primary tumors, and this positive staining correlated well (with statistical significance) with lymphatic invasion and metastasis (P < 0.01). In the metastatic lymph nodes, the majority of cancer cells (49/55:89%) stained positively for HPA. Tumors with positive HPA staining often metastasized to lymph nodes. Patients with gastric cancer and positive HPA staining of their tumor tissues lived for a shorter time than did those with a negative staining, even in the absence of metastasis to the lymph nodes (P < 0.01). Careful follow-up and aggressive therapy are required postoperatively for patients with an HPA-positive gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery II, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kakeji
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maehara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsujitani
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimachi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006372:Helix, Snails; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: C038095:Helix lectin; D006388:Hemagglutinins; D037102:Lectins