title: Ezrin overexpression predicts the poor prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ezrin is a cytoskeletal protein that is involved in tumor growth and invasion. It has been suggested that Ezrin expression plays an important role in tumor metastasis. This study is aimed to investigate the clinicopathological significance of Ezrin overexpression in gastric adenocarcinomas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ezrin protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in 26 normal gastric mucosa, 32 dysplasia, and 277 gastric adenocarcinomas. The relationship between Ezrin expression and the clinicopathological features of gastric cancers was analyzed. In addition, a gastric cancer cell line, MKN-1, was also used for immunofluorescence staining to evaluate the distribution of Ezrin protein.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ezrin protein located in the cytoplasm and/or membrane in the migrating gastric cancer cells, and it mainly concentrated at the protrusion site; however, only cytoplasmic distribution was observed in the non-migrating cancer cells by immunofluorescence staining. The positive rate of Ezrin protein expression was significantly higher in gastric adenocarcinoma and dysplasia compared with that in the normal gastric mucosa. Moreover, expression frequency of Ezrin protein increased significantly in lymph node metastasis and late clinical stages. Consistently, strong expression of Ezrin was significantly correlated with poor prognosis of gastric cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The detection of Ezrin expression can be used as the marker for early diagnosis and prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma.
  The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/2303598677653946.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Yanbian University Medical College, Yanji-City, Jilin-Province, PR China.
authors.forename: Jingchun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Tiefeng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Meiling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: Yingshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Piao
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D015854:Up-Regulation; D000099149:Ezrin
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D000099149:Ezrin