ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Recently, the studies for oncogene and tumor marker have been actively performed to investigate the carcinogenesis of gastric carcinoma, but it is not clearly understood. We investigated the expression of tumor suppressor gene and proliferation activity in gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry for p53 protein (wild and mutant type), retinoblastoma protein(wild type), and PCNA was performed in 131 cases of formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections of gastric carcinoma. We compared that expression with tissue invasiveness, lymph node metastasis, staging and, Lauren classification, and that expression with each other. RESULTS: 1) The positive ratio of p53 protein, Rb protein, also PCNA in gastric carcinoma was 64.9%, 98.5%, 99.2%, 2) The expression of p53 protein was related to invasiveness, lymph node metastasis, staging, and Lauren classification(p<0.05). 3) The positive reaction for Rb gene was identified in tumor cells as well as proliferating cells. 4) There was a close relationship between Rb gene expression and PCNA in gastric carcinoma (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Theses results suggested that the expression of p53 gene is related to invasiveness, lymph node metastasis, staging and Lauren classification in gastric carcinoma. Expression of retinoblastoma gene is a closely related to proliferating activity.