Expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in gastric carcinoma: correlation with histopathologic characteristics and analysis of Ki-67.
Amplification and overexpression of the c-erbB-2 gene has been demonstrated in several tumors and thought to be important determinants of biologic behaviors of carcinomas. In this study, correlation between c-erbB-2 expression und histopathologic parameters, including proliferative activity of gastric carcinomas was evaluated. Paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 62 patients who underwent curative resection of gastric carcinoma were analyzed immunohistochemically for the expression of c-erbB-2 and Ki-67. Strong membrane staining for c-erbB-2 was detected in 11 of 62 gastric carcinomas (17,7%) and no positive reaction was evident in noncancerous tissue. The incidence of c-erbB-2 positivity in intestinal type carcinomas (24,3%) was higher than that of diffuse type carcinomas (4,76%). Positive staining for c-erbB-2 was present in one of the 9 (11,1%) early gastric carcinomas and 10 of 53 (18, 8%) advanced gastric carcinomas. However, no statistically significant relationships were found between c-erbB-2 expression and histopathologic type, depth on invasion, the tumor size or lymph node metastases. Among the metastatic lymph nodes, 3 were positively stained with c-erbB-2 whereas the primary tumors of two cases had been found to be negative. Additionally, no correlation was found between c-erbB-2 reactivity and proliferative activity of carcinoma cells. The results suggest that expression of c-erbB-2 protein may occur selectively in intestinal type of gastric carcinomas. However, c-erbB-2 expression is not a reliable marker of malignant potential in gastric carcinomas.
Gazi University Medical School Besevler, Department of Pathology Turgut Reis Caddesi 16/8, Mebusevleri Tandogan, Ankara, 06580, Turkey.
A
A
Dursun
A
A
Poyraz
B
B
Celik
G
G
Akyol
D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases