CELL-ADHESION MOLECULES - A NEW TOOL FOR IDENTIFICATION OF R0 RESECTED HIGH-RISK PATIENTS IN GASTRIC-CANCER

In a series of gastric cancer patients with an intended curative resec tion cell adhesion molecules were confirmed as important predictors of poor prognosis. The reduced expression of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin was associated with parameters of tumor cell dissociation a nd is supposed to be involved in an early step of metastasis. In contr ast, the expression of the cell adhesion molecules LFA-3 and CD44 was correlated with tumor cell vessel invasion and seems to play an import ant role in advanced tumor progression. In addition, the ''de novo'' e xpression of CD44 antigen was identified as a new independent prognost ic factor in R0 resected gastric cancer patients.