title: C5b-9 Staining Correlates With Clinical and Tumor Stage in Gastric Adenocarcinoma.
abstract: The complement system is a critical part of the immune response, acting in defense against viral infections, clearance of immune complexes, and maintenance of tissue homeostasis. Upregulated expression of the terminal complement complex, C5b-9, has been observed on various tumor cells, such as stomach carcinoma cells, and on cells in the necrotic regions of these tumors as well; however, whether and how C5b-9 is related to gastric cancer progression and severity remains unknown. In this study, human gastric adenocarcinoma (HGAC) tissues (n=47 cases) and patient-matched adjacent nontumoral parenchyma (n=20 cases) were evaluated by tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. The HGAC tissues showed upregulated C5b-9 expression. Multinomial logistic regression and likelihood ratio testing showed that overexpression of C5b-9 in HGAC tissue was significantly correlated with clinical stage (P=0.007) and tumor stage (P=0.005), but not with tumor distant organ metastasis, lymphoid nodal status, sex, or age. Patients with late-stage gastric adenocarcinoma had a higher amount of tumor cells showing positive staining for C5b-9 than patients with early-stage disease. These results may help in diagnosis and assessment of disease severity of human gastric carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: *Institute of Immunology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing †Department of General Surgery, First People's Hospital of Guiyang, Guiyang, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wei-Jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hai-Jian
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yu-Zhang
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex