ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Beta-catenin is known to perform two unrelated functions in cadherin-mediated cell to cell adhesion system and Wnt pathway. Recent studies reported cytoplasmic and nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin by Wnt signaling and/or abnormal Wnt pathway in cancer cells. Nuclear accumulations of beta-catenin have a crucial role in early tumor growth and initiation of invasive growth in gastric cancer. METHODS: We carried out clinicopathological and immunohistochemical studies for beta-catenin, p53, E-cadherin, and Ki-67 in the specimens from 60 early gastric cancer patients who were treated with curative resections. RESULTS: Twenty-five (41.7%) and twenty-nine (48.3%) cases showed a nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of beta-catenin, respectively. There were significant correlations between nuclear expression of beta-catenin and well-differentiated and intestinal type of early gastric carcinoma. Cytoplasmic expression of beta-catenin had significant correlations with nuclear expression of beta-catenin (p=0.011). CONCLUSIONS: Nuclear expression of beta-catenin is significantly influenced by histological grade, Lauren classification and cytoplasmic expression of beta-catenin in early gastric cancer. These findings suggest that nuclear expression of beta-catenin is correlated with early tumorigenesis and initiation of invasive growth in gastric cancer.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Cadherins/metabolism , Carcinoma/metabolism , Cell Nucleus/metabolism , Cytoplasm/metabolism , Cytoskeletal Proteins/metabolism , English Abstract , Ki-67 Antigen/analysis , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/metabolism , Stomach Neoplasms/metabolism , Trans-Activators/metabolismABSTRACT
Objective To detect chromosome translocation t (11;18)(q21;q21) and expression of BCL10 protein in gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Methods We, combining clinical and pathological data, detected API2 MLT fusion by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR)as well as the expressions of BCL10 protein and Ki 67 by immunohistochemistry in cases of gastric MALT lymphoma and follicular gastritis (FG) and analyzed the relationships among them. Results API2 MLT fusion was detected in three cases (2 low grade and 1 low to high grade) out of 14 cases of gastric MALT lymphoma, and no in 8 cases of FG. BCL10 protein was weakly expressed in cytoplasm of B cells of germinal center in lymph follicles of FG; but abundantly in cytoplasm of tumor cells in gastric MALT lymphoma; 42.5% of the latter showed weak expression in nucleus. The expression of Ki 67 was significantly higher in low to high and diffuse large B cell lymphoma cases than in low grade cases( P 0.05), the frequency of nuclear expression of BCL10 increased with the increased expression of Ki 67. Conclusions Both API2 MLT fusion and BCL10 nuclear expression are associated with transformation of gastric MALT lymphoma from LG to HG. RT PCR technique used to detect API2 MLT fusion may be an important tool in identification of t(11;18)(q21;q21).