Immunohistochemical Study on Gastric Cancers with Mucinous Adenocarcinoma

Kikuo Koufuji, Jinryo Takeda, Issei Kodama, Keishirou Aoyagi, Junji Ohta, Hiroki Takamiya, Kazuku Mizutani, Yutaka Ogata, Kazuo Shirouzu

First Department of Surgery, Kurume University School of Medicine

Gastric cancers with mucinous adenocarcinoma had no liver metastases despite frequently having peritoneal and lymphatic metastases. To clarify the reason for gastric cancers with mucinous adenocarcinoma having no liver metastases, we investigated 28 gastric cancers with mucinous adenocarcinoma and 31 gastric cancers with liver metastasis clinicopathologically and studied the expressions of VEGF, MMP-9 and MMP-2 immunohistochemically. There was no differences, clinicopathologically, between the former and the latter except for V factor and H factor. The rates of VEGF and MMP-9 expressions were 21.4% and 28.6%, respectively, in the former and were significantly lower than those in the latter. On the other hand, the rate of MMP-2 expression in the former was 32.1%, and showed no significant difference with that in the latter. These results suggest that VEGF and MMP-9, produced in tumor cells, may play an important role in the development of liver metastasis in gastric cancer.

Key words
gastric cancer, mucinous adenocarcinoma, vascular endothelial cell growth factor, matrix metalloproteinase-2, matrix metalloproteinase-9

Reprint requests
Kikuo Koufuji First Department of Surgeruy, Kurume University School of Medicine
67, Asahi-machi, Kurume, 830 JAPAN

Accepted
September 11, 1996

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