Autoantibodies in the serum of patients with gastric cancer: Their prognostic importance

To evaluate the presence in serum and the clinical relevance of several ant inuclear autoantibodies, we investigated 31 patients with initially diagnos ed gastric cancer and 40 age-matched healthy controls. Autoantibodies again st ssDNA, dsDNA, cardiolipin, actin, myosin, tropomyosin, GM(1), GD(1b) and GT(3) gangliosides, were detected with an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA ). Anti-ssDNA, anti-actin, anti-GM(1) and anti-GD(1b) antibodies were detec ted in the serum of 11 (p = 0.001), 8 (p = 0.02), 11 (p = 0.001), and 9 (p = 0.008) patients with gastric cancer, respectively. There was no significa nt difference between patients with cancer and the control group, as far as the other autoantibodies were concerned. Most of the patients (90%) had au toantibodies against at least one of the antigens examined. Patients with a nti-ssDNA, anti-actin, anti-GM(1) and anti-GD(1b) antibodies were less like ly to survive than the patients being negative to the above autoantibodies: the figures are 1 of 11 (9%) compared with 4 of 20 (20%); 1 of 8 (13%) com pared with 5 of 23 (22%); 1 of 11 (9%) compared with 4 of 20 (20%); and 1 o f 9 (11%) compared with 4 of 22 (18%), respectively. Our findings suggest t hat 4 of the 9 autoantibodies that we assayed are significantly more likely to be found in serum of patients with gastric cancer, indicating that the immune system has a role in the process of the malignant disease. If our re sults are confirmed by forthcoming studies, some of the immunological varia bles that we examined could be used as markers of prognostic value in patie nts with gastric cancer.