E-cadherin and urokinase-type plasminogen activator tissue status in gastric carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
E-cadherin (ECD) is known to be an invasion suppressor gene, and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) plays a central role in infiltration of solid cancers.


METHODS
To elucidate the relationship between expression of these factors and metastasis in patients with gastric cancer, the authors examined immunohistochemically a combination analysis of uPA and E-cadherin expression in 98 primary tumors, and the results were correlated with several parameters related to metastasis.


RESULTS
Among 125 tumors, 42 (34%) were evaluated as having E-cadherin expression (E-cadherin-positive), and the other 83 (66%) were defined as having reduced E-cadherin expression (E-cadherin-negative). uPA immunoreactivity was observed in 82 tumors (66%). There were four subtypes of patterns of uPA and E-cadherin expression: 22 uPA-negative/E-cadherin-positive, 17 uPA-negative/E-cadherin-negative, 21 uPA-positive/E-cadherin-positive, and 65 uPA-positive/E-cadherin-negative, uPA overexpression and reduced E-cadherin expression were associated with lymph node metastasis, vessel invasion, serosal involvement, and poor prognosis. In addition, uPA-positive/E-cadherin-negative tumors were associated significantly with large tumors, positive serosal invasion, lymph node involvement, and poor prognosis. Patients with uPA-positive/E-cadherin-negative expression had the poorest prognoses, compared with the three other groups of patients uPA-positive/E-cadherin-negative tumors had a fourfold relative risk of death when compared with uPA-negative/E-cadherin-positive tumors. A Cox proportional hazard model projected lymph node status as the strongest of the prognostic variables followed by DNA ploidy patterns and uPA/E-cadherin tissue status.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that immunohistochemical combination analysis of uPA and E-cadherin expression may be a powerful aid in evaluating metastatic potential or the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.
Yonemura
Y
Y
Second Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Japan.
Nojima
N
N
Kaji
M
M
Fujimura
T
T
Itoh
H
H
Ninomiya
I
I
Miyazaki
I
I
Endo
Y
Y
Sasaki
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000782:Aneuploidy; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011003:Ploidies; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000378:metabolism*
D015820:Cadherins; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator