title: Expression of hepatocyte growth factor and c-Met in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) may play an important role in the progression of hypopharyngeal cancer.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  HGF, a potent stimulator of hepatocyte growth, stimulates the motility, invasiveness, proliferation and morphogenesis of epithelium and may be involved in physiologic and pathologic processes such as embryogenesis, wound healing, organ regeneration, inflammation and tumor invasion. We therefore examined the role of HGF and c-Met in the invasion and metastasis of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed immunohistochemical staining of 40 specimens each of normal mucosa and SCC of the hypopharynx with HGF and c-Met antibodies. For reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting, fresh normal and cancer tissue from the hypopharynx obtained from five patients were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Positive rates of HGF and c-Met expression in hypopharyngeal SCC were 77.5% and 70%, respectively. HGF staining was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and pathologic stage (p < 0.05). c-Met staining was only significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). Increased expression of c-Met mRNA (RT-PCR) and protein (Western blotting) was detected in hypopharyngeal cancer tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Chul-Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung-Kyun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Joon-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Jae Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jae Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Kyubo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eun Chang
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007012:Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D012313:RNA; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met