Relationship of p53 and c-erbB-2 expression to histopathological features, Helicobacter pylori infection and prognosis in gastric cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Conflicting results concerning the relationships between abnormal expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 and biologic behavior of gastric cancer are noted. Therefore, overexpression of p53 and c-erbB-2 in relation to the following aspects of gastric cancer: tumor histopathology, Helicobacter pylori infection, and prognosis are explored.


METHODS
Expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 by immunohistochemistry was correlated with histopathology, H. pylori infection and prognosis of gastric cancer in 112 patients.


RESULTS
Positive p53 staining was found in 61 (54.5%) of 112 tumors examined. There was no association of p53 expression with sex, age, lymph node metastasis, H. pylori infection or prognosis. A significantly higher frequency of p53-positive staining was observed in advanced (60.7%), intestinal (69.8%) and cardia (76.5%) than in early (30.4%, p < 0.01), diffuse (34.7%, p < 0.01) and noncardia (50.5%, p < 0.05) carcinoma, respectively. Expression of c-erbB-2 was found in 34 cases (30.3%), and was not related to sex, age, H. pylori infection and tumor location. Tumors with positive c-erbB-2 staining appeared to behave more aggressively in view of higher rates of nodal metastasis (38.0% vs 17.1%, p < 0.05), advanced stage (37.1% vs 4.3%, p < 0.01) and poor mean survival (p < 0.01). Patients with intestinal type tumors also had a significantly higher rate of c-erbB-2 expression than those with diffuse tumors (39.7% vs 18.4%, p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that immunohistochemical expressions of p53 and c-erbB-2 are significantly associated with some histopathological phenotypes. Genetic alterations of c-erbB-2 or p53 may not be affected by H. pylori infection. C-erbB-2 expression may be used as a marker for identifying more aggressive gastric cancer for designing further therapy.
Shun
C T
CT
Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei.
Wu
M S
MS
Lin
J T
JT
Chen
S Y
SY
Wang
H P
HP
Lee
W J
WJ
Wang
T H
TH
Chuang
S M
SM
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D018734:Genes, erbB-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D016158:Genes, p53 / Q000235:genetics*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010641:Phenotype; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D015996:Survival Rate; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53