TY - JOUR
T1 - Abnormal expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, and c-erbB-2 in advanced gastric cancer
T2 - Its association with liver metastasis
AU - Ougolkov, Andrei
AU - Yamashita, Kaname
AU - Bilim, Vladimir
AU - Takahashi, Yutaka
AU - Mai, Masayoshi
AU - Minamoto, Toshinari
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This report is based on a presentation at the 92nd Annual Meeting of American Association for Cancer Research held in New Orleans, 24–28 March 2001. This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Cancer Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan (to T.M. and M.M.) and by Grant-in-Aid from The Hokkoku Cancer Research Promotion Foundation. A.O. is a recipient of a Scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan.
PY - 2003/3
Y1 - 2003/3
N2 - Background and aims: We investigated expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, and c-erbB-2 in gastric cancer to identify molecular factor(s), relevant to development of liver metastasis, which is a frequent cause of mortality in gastric cancer patients. Patients and methods: We analyzed by immunohistochemistry and compared expression patterns of E-cadherin, β-catenin, and c-erbB-2 in the tumor between 40 cases of gastric cancer (GC) without (GC-H-) and 16 with concurrent liver metastasis (GC-H+). Results: Loss of E-cadherin expression in the primary tumor was found in 18% of GC-H- and in 19% of GC-H+. Oncogenic β-catenin activation, represented by its nuclear translocation, was detected in 13% of GC-H- and in 31% of GC-H+. There was no statistical difference in incidence of alteration in these molecules between the two groups of patients. c-erbB-2 overexpression was more frequently observed in GC-H+ (10/16, 63%) than in GC-H- (5/40, 13%) while the distribution of histological types of the tumors was similar in the two groups of patients. This overexpression was also detected in metastatic liver tumors and biopsy specimens in the ten of the former group of patients. Conclusion: Our results strongly suggest a role of activated c-erbB-2 in the process of liver metastasis, and an importance of detection of this overexpression in biopsy specimens to identify GC patients who are at high risk of developing liver metastasis.
AB - Background and aims: We investigated expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, and c-erbB-2 in gastric cancer to identify molecular factor(s), relevant to development of liver metastasis, which is a frequent cause of mortality in gastric cancer patients. Patients and methods: We analyzed by immunohistochemistry and compared expression patterns of E-cadherin, β-catenin, and c-erbB-2 in the tumor between 40 cases of gastric cancer (GC) without (GC-H-) and 16 with concurrent liver metastasis (GC-H+). Results: Loss of E-cadherin expression in the primary tumor was found in 18% of GC-H- and in 19% of GC-H+. Oncogenic β-catenin activation, represented by its nuclear translocation, was detected in 13% of GC-H- and in 31% of GC-H+. There was no statistical difference in incidence of alteration in these molecules between the two groups of patients. c-erbB-2 overexpression was more frequently observed in GC-H+ (10/16, 63%) than in GC-H- (5/40, 13%) while the distribution of histological types of the tumors was similar in the two groups of patients. This overexpression was also detected in metastatic liver tumors and biopsy specimens in the ten of the former group of patients. Conclusion: Our results strongly suggest a role of activated c-erbB-2 in the process of liver metastasis, and an importance of detection of this overexpression in biopsy specimens to identify GC patients who are at high risk of developing liver metastasis.
KW - E-cadherin
KW - Gastric cancer
KW - Liver metastasis
KW - c-erbB-2
KW - β-catenin
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U2 - 10.1007/s00384-002-0427-2
DO - 10.1007/s00384-002-0427-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 12548420
AN - SCOPUS:0037714334
VL - 18
SP - 160
EP - 166
JO - International Journal of Colorectal Disease
JF - International Journal of Colorectal Disease
SN - 0179-1958
IS - 2
ER -