title: Prognostic significance of heat shock protein 70 expression in early gastric carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Overexpression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) has been observed in many types of cancer including gastric adenocarcinomas, although the exact role of HSP70 in carcinogenesis remains unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study analyzed a total of 458 radical gastrectomy specimens which were immunohistochemically stained with HSP70, p53, and Ki-67 antibodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study determined that the expression of HSP70 was significantly increased in early gastric cancer (EGC) compared to advanced gastric cancer (p<0.001). The HSP70 expression was correlated with well-differentiated tumor type, intestinal type of Lauren classification and the lower pT and pN stage. Negative expression of Ki-67 and p53 expression was associated with poor prognosis. The study did not find any correlation between HSP70 and p53 expression. The study determined that HSP70 expression in the EGC subgroup was associated with a poor prognosis (p=0.009), as well as negative Ki-67 expression (p=0.006), but was not associated with p53. Based on multivariate analysis, HSP70 expression (p=0.024), negative expression of Ki-67, invasion depth and lymph node metastasis were determined to be independent prognostic markers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HSP70 is expressed in the early stages of gastric adenocarcinoma. In EGC, HSP70 is a poor independent prognostic marker and is correlated with a low proliferation index.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Korea University Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Youngran
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Woon Yong
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Hyunjoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wonkyung
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Eunjung
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Bong Kyung
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Aeree
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Han Kyeom
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Baek-Hui
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Early gastric carcinoma; HSP70 heat-shock proteins; Ki-67 antigen