Hidetake Amemiya1, Koji Kono1, Yoshiyuki Mori1,2, Akihiro Takahashi1, Fumiko Ichihara1, Hidehiko Iizuka1, Takashi Sekikawa1, Yoshiro Matsumoto1
1First Departments of Surgery and
2Pathology, Yamanashi Medical University, Yamanashi, Japan
Tóm tắt
Gastric cancers producing α-fetoprotein (AFP) have a poor prognosis and a high incidence of liver metastasis. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor, c-Met, are known to induce mitosis and cell movement and to promote tumor progression. In the present study, c-Met and HGF expression in AFP-producing gastric cancer was compared with those gastric cancers that do not produce AFP. Twenty-six patients with AFP-producing gastric cancers [AFP(+)] and 26 patients stage-matched gastric cancers without AFP production [AFP(–)] were evaluated for c-Met and HGF expression and proliferating cell nuclear antigen-labelling index using immunohistochemical analysis. A higher frequency of c-Met expression was observed in the AFP(+) group than in the AFP(–) group (p < 0.01). A higher expression of c-Met might be one explanation for the poorer prognosis of AFP-producing gastric cancers.
