Clinical Characteristics and Immunohistochemical Examination of Gastric Adenosquamous Carcinoma -Expression of Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA), Apoptotic Cell, p53, CD44 and Intratumoral Microvessel Density (CD34)-

Masami Niki, Hiroshi Isozaki, Keizo Fujii, Eiji Nomura, Hideaki Mabuchi, Motoyuki Nakamura, Kanji Nishiguchi, Nobuhiko Tanigawa

Department of General and Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka Medical College

The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical and immunohistochemical characteristics of gastric adenosquamous (ad-sq) carcinoma. All patients in this study had undergone surgery at our hospital. We examined immunohistochemically the correlation between the 11 patients with ad-sq carcinoma and the 44 patients with the common type (common) of advanced gastric carcinoma. Expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), p53 and CD44, and the apoptotic index were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. Microvessel density was assessed by immunostaining for anti-CD34 antibody in the 5 most vascularized areas. The PCNA labeling index in the ad-sq carcinomas was significantly higher than that in the common carcinomas. The apoptotic index in the ad-sq carcinomas was significantly lower than that in the common carcinomas. The p53 positive rate in the ad-sq carcinomas was significantly higher than that in the common carcinomas. The CD44 positive rate in the ad-sq carcinomas was significantly higher than that in the common carcinomas. In the ad-sq carcinomas, expression of both p53 and CD44 in the adenocarcinoma areas was similar to that squamouscarcinoma areas in the neighboring. Intratumoral microvessel density assessed by anti-CD34 staining in the ad-sq carcinomas was significantly higher than that in the common carcinomas. From these findings taken together, it could be speculated in terms of biological background in the development of the ad-sq carcinomas that the squamous elements likely originated from one of the undifferentiated epithelial carcinomas having multipotency, not from a preexisting differentiated adenocarcinoma.

Key words
gastric adenosquamous carcinoma, immunohistochemical staining, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, Apoptotic cell, Microvessel density

Reprint requests
Masami Niki Department of General and Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka Medical College
2-7 Daigaku-cho, Takatsuki City, 569-8686 JAPAN

Accepted
June 10, 1998

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