title: Correlation between altered expression of retinoblastoma protein and clinical outcome in patients with gastric-cancer.
abstract: We studied the expression of RB protein in 136 endoscopically obtained biopsied materials from primary gastric cancers by means of immunohistochemistry. The expression of RB protein was variably observed in the nuclei of tumor cells. Tumors could be divided into two groups. Group 1 (RB-positive) comprised 74 tumors (54%) that expressed RB protein in 20% or more of tumor cells, and Group 2 (altered RB) included 62 tumors (46%) that showed RB immunoreactivity in less than 20% of tumor cells. RB-positive tumors (Group 1) were more frequently observed in the early cancers (74%, 28/38) than in advanced ones (48%, 46/98). The incidence of distant metastases was higher and involvement of serosa or lymph nodes was more frequently observed in Group 2 than in Group 1. In addition, patients of Group 1 survived significantly longer than those of Group 2 (p<0.05). However, no correlation could be found between RB tissue status and proliferative activity. These results indicate that tumors with decreased RB-protein expression may have more aggressive biological behavior than tumors showing high expression of this protein.
authors.affiliation: KANAZAWA UNIV,CANC RES INST,DEPT EXPTL THERAPEUT & BIOPHYS,KANAZAWA,ISHIKAWA 920,JAPAN.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yonemura
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsugawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujimura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirono
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takamura
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Endou
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasaki