CLINICAL-SIGNIFICANCE OF INTEGRIN ALPHA-6 MESSENGER-RNA EXPRESSION INGASTRIC-CARCINOMA

Integrin alpha 6 is believed to be involved in malignant biological de velopment. High tumor/normal (T/N) ratio of integrin alpha 6 was obser ved in intestinal type tumors in gastric carcinoma. In an immunohistoc hemical study, an intense and continuous staining was seen at the base ment layer in the intestinal type tumors. Concerning the variant, ther e was a significant correlation between the expression ratio of varian t B/variant A and the depth of tumor invasion. In conclusion, i) integ rin alpha 6 expression was intimately correlated with histologic diffe rentiation, and ii) the overexpression of variant B may be correlated with tumor invasion of gastric carcinoma.