title: Clinical significance of MET in gastric cancer.
abstract: Chemotherapy has become the global standard treatment for patients with metastatic or unresectable gastric cancer (GC), although outcomes remain unfavorable. Many molecular-targeted therapies inhibiting signaling pathways of various tyrosine kinase receptors have been developed, and monoclonal antibodies targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 or vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 have become standard therapy for GC. Hepatocyte growth factor and its receptor, c-MET (MET), play key roles in tumor growth through activated signaling pathways from receptor in GC cells. Genomic amplification of MET leads to the aberrant activation found in GC tumors and is related to survival in patients with GC. This review discusses the clinical significance of MET in GC and examines MET as a potential therapeutic target in patients with GC. Preclinical studies in animal models have shown that MET antibodies or small-molecule MET inhibitors suppress tumor-cell proliferation and tumor progression in MET-amplified GC cells. These drugs are now being evaluated in clinical trials as treatments for metastatic or unresectable GC.
authors.affiliation: Mikito Inokuchi, Sho Otsuki, Yoshitaka Fujimori, Yuya Sato, Masatoshi Nakagawa, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Mikito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inokuchi
authors.affiliation: Mikito Inokuchi, Sho Otsuki, Yoshitaka Fujimori, Yuya Sato, Masatoshi Nakagawa, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Otsuki
authors.affiliation: Mikito Inokuchi, Sho Otsuki, Yoshitaka Fujimori, Yuya Sato, Masatoshi Nakagawa, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujimori
authors.affiliation: Mikito Inokuchi, Sho Otsuki, Yoshitaka Fujimori, Yuya Sato, Masatoshi Nakagawa, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Mikito Inokuchi, Sho Otsuki, Yoshitaka Fujimori, Yuya Sato, Masatoshi Nakagawa, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Mikito Inokuchi, Sho Otsuki, Yoshitaka Fujimori, Yuya Sato, Masatoshi Nakagawa, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kojima
keywords: Clinical trial; Gastric cancer; Genomic amplification; Immunohistochemistry; MET