Expression of the GLUT1 and p53 Protein in Atypical Mucosal Lesions Obtained from Gastric Biopsy Specimens

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of atypical mucosal lesions by performing hematoxylin-eosin staining is too subjective, and it is also subject to considerable inter-observer variation. There is a need for reliable immunohistochemical markers that can give reproducible results and that are not subject to individual interpretation. METHODS: We reviewed a total of 199 cases of gastric biopsy specimens, which were all diagnosed as atypical mucosal lesions, and 124 cases of the adenocarcinomas specimens had been classified from category 1 (C1) to C5 according to the Vienna classification. We also examined the immunohistochemical expressions of the glucose transporter GLUT1 and the p53 protein in the gastric biopsy specimens to determine if they were useful markers for differentiatial diagnosis under the Vienna classifications. RESULTS: None of the specimens in categories C1 to C3 showed GLUT1 expression, but 10.1% of the C4 specimens and 25.0% of the C5 specimens were GLUT1-positive (p<0.05). The expression of p53 was undetectable in the C1 specimens, but this was expressed in 2.9% of the C2 specimens, 15.6% of the C3 specimens, 37.8% of the C4 specimens, and 65.3% of the C5 specimens (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The Vienna classification is very applicable to the gastric biopsy specimens of the atypical mucosal lesions, and the GLUT1 and p53 expressions are candidates as highly useful markers to differentiate the Vienna C4 lesions from the C3 and C5 lesions.