title: Overexpression of the c-met protooncogene in human gastric carcinoma--correlation to clinical features.
abstract: Overexpression of hepatocyte growth factor receptor (c-met) has been detected in many human tumors. To investigate the possible involvement of c-met in human gastric carcinogenesis, we examined c-met expression in 45 patients with gastric carcinoma using Northern blot analysis, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and immunohistochemical staining. The c-met mRNA expression was increased twofold and sevenfold in gastric carcinoma tissues compared to the adjacent normal tissues by Northern blot analysis and RT-PCR, respectively. In the immunohistochemical study, c-met protein was detected in 32 of 45 (71.1%) patients, with marked overexpression in gastric carcinoma compared with matched normal gastric tissues. The c-met-positive immunoreactivities were more frequently encountered in serosa-exposed and serosa-infiltrating gastric cancer (p = 0.003). In addition, tumor stage was another statistically significant parameter that was observed between the two groups (p = 0.02). Multivariate analyses revealed that the tumor stage (p = 0.014) and c-met overexpression (p = 0.031) were independently correlated with survival. These data suggest that overexpression of c-met may play a part in gastric carcinogenesis and may represent a prognostic factor for gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lian
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hsieh
mesh_terms: D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018279:Carcinoma, Signet Ring Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D011379:Prognosis; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met