ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of syndecan-1 protein at different stages in the course of gastric carcinoma and its significance in carcinogenesis and metastasis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>There were 56 cases of chronic gastritis, 50 cases of chronic atrophic gastritis, 59 cases of intestinal metaplasia, 61 cases of displasia, and 112 cases of gastric carcinoma. Among the carcinoma cases, 55 were without and 57 with lymph node metastases. All paraffin-embedded tissue samples were assessed by immunohistochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The syndecan-1 positive rate was 96.43% (54/56) in gastritis, 98.00% (49/50) in chronic atrophic gastritis, 100.00% (59/59) in intestinal metaplasia, 91.80% (56/61) in displasia, 45.45% (25/55) in gastric carcinoma without, and 24.56% (14/57) in gastric carcinoma with lymph node metastases. There was no significant difference among chronic gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia (P > 0.05). There was a significant difference between displasia group and gastric carcinoma group (P <0.05), as well as between gastric carcinoma with and without lymph node metastases. There was a significant difference among well, moderately and poorly differentiated carcinoma groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A decreasing expression of syedecan-1 in the development of gastric carcinoma is related with gastric carcinogenesis, and it may further promote metastasis of gastric carcinoma.</p>