title: HER-2/neu and TOPIIa expression in gastric cancer reflect disease severity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gastric cancer is associated with high morbidity and mortality, but reliable diagnostic and prognostic markers have not been established. Here we explored the clinical significance of two proteins, HER-2/neu and TOPIIa-associated with development and progression of various tumor types-in gastric cancer. We also analyzed the correlation between expression of these proteins and clinicopathological parameters of gastric tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tumor and adjacent normal tissue samples were collected from 62 patients with gastric cancer and subjected to immunohistochemistry with anti-HER-2/neu and -TOPIIa antibodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HER-2/neu (21.0%) and TOPIIa (80.6%) were expressed more commonly in gastric cancer than in normal gastric tissue (9.7% and 60.3%, respectively; p<0.05). However, there was no correlation between HER-2/neu and TOPIIa expression in gastric tumors. Further analysis showed a correlation between HER-2/neu expression and lymph node metastasis, distant metastases and tumor stage (p<0.05); TOPIIa was correlated with infiltration depth, distant metastases and tumor stage (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HER-2/neu and TOPIIa are over expressed in gastric tumors and may promote disease progression. These proteins may therefore be useful as prognostic markers in evaluation of patients with gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, the First People's Hospital, Yancheng, China. hongqiliu@126.com
authors.forename: Hong-Qi
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shao-Lan
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013270:Stomach / Q000737:chemistry; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human