EXPRESSION OF AUTOCRINE MOTILITY FACTOR-RECEPTOR CORRELATES WITH DISEASE PROGRESSION IN HUMAN GASTRIC-CANCER

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.