Y. Hirono et al., EXPRESSION OF AUTOCRINE MOTILITY FACTOR-RECEPTOR CORRELATES WITH DISEASE PROGRESSION IN HUMAN GASTRIC-CANCER, British Journal of Cancer, 74(12), 1996, pp. 2003-2007
Up-regulation of autocrine motility factor receptor (AMF-R) expression
has been shown to be associated with invasion and metastasis of exper
imental tumour systems and human neoplasms. Monoclonal antibodies agai
nst AMF-R (gp78) were used to stain 221 primary gastric cancer specime
ns, and level of expression was examined in relation to pathological-s
tage and prognostic values. In 125 out of 221 (56.6%) patients, gp78 w
as detected. Expression of gp78 was associated with macroscopic type,
lymphatic and venous invasions, and lymph node and peritoneal metastas
is. The level of gp78 expression in the cancer specimens was associate
d with histopathological stage and grade of tumour penetration. Positi
ve gp78 expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis (P
<0.001). This significant relationship remained among patients in stag
es II and III. The results suggest that gp78 expression could be used
as a prognostic marker in gastric cancer patients.