[Expression of PTEN and its correlation with angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) is a recently clarified tumor suppressor gene located in 10q23.3. Alterations of this gene are associated with tumor progression and unfavorable outcome in various human cancers. Recently, PTEN has a possible role in angiogenesis by modulating angiogenic factor including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of PTEN and VEGF status for angiogenesis in human gastric cancer.


METHODS
We conducted an immunohistochemical investigation of PTEN and VEGF expression in 90 cases of paraffin section obtained from gastric cancer patients undergone surgical treatment.


RESULTS
Negative expression of PTEN and positive expression of VEGF in gastric cancer tissues, were demonstrated in 40.0% and 77.8% of cases, respectively. However, no significant correlation was found between PTEN, VEGF expression and various clinicopathological parameters. PTEN expression did not correlate significantly with VEGF expression (p=0.301). High microvessel density (MVD) was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and poor survival (p=0.014, 0.011, respectively). The mean MVD value of PTEN negative tumors was 90.4+/-43.0 and significantly higher than that of PTEN positive tumors (p=0.028). The mean MVD value of VEGF positive tumors was 86.4+/-6.7 and significantly higher than that of VEGF negative tumors (p=0.002). The mean MVD value of PTEN negative and VEGF positive tumors was 98.0+/-42.2, and significantly higher than those of the others.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that loss of PTEN expression may play a critical role in tumor progression and metastasis by stimulating tumor angiogenesis in human gastric cancer.
Park
Geun Soo
GS
Department of Internal Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
Joo
Young Eun
YE
Kim
Hyun Soo
HS
Choi
Sung Kyu
SK
Rew
Jong Sun
JS
Park
Chang Soo
CS
Kim
Sei Jong
SJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism*; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase / Q000378:metabolism*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality; D015996:Survival Rate; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase; C494929:PTEN protein, human