RELATIONSHIP OF P53 AND C-ERBB-2 EXPRESSION TO HISTOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES, HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION AND PROGNOSIS IN GASTRIC-CANCER

Background/Aims: Conflicting results concerning the relationships betw een abnormal expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 and biologic behavior of g astric cancer are noted. Therefore, overexpression of p53 and c-erbB-2 in relation to the following aspects of gastric cancer: tumor histopa thology, Helicobacter pylori infection, and prognosis are explored. Ma terials and Method: Expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 by immunohistochemi stry was correlated with histopathology, H. pylori infection and progn osis of gastric cancer in 112 patients. Results: Positive p53 staining was found in 61 (54.5%) of 112 tumors examined. There was no associat ion of p53 expression with sex, age, lymph node metastasis, H. pylori infection or prognosis. A significantly higher frequency of p53-positi ve staining was observed in advanced (60.7%), intestinal (69.8%) and c ardia (76.5%) than in. early (30.4%, p<0.01), diffuse (34.7%, p<0.01) and noncardia (50.5%, p<0.05) carcinoma, respectively. Expression, of c-erbB-2 was found in 34 cases (30.3%), and was not related to sex, ag e, H. pylori infection, and tumor location. Tumors with positive c-erb B-2 staining appeared to behave more aggressively in view of higher ra tes of nodal metastasis (38.0% vs 17.1%, p<0.05), advanced stage (37.1 % vs 4.3%, p<0.01) and poor mean survival (p<0.01). Patients with inte stinal type tumors also had a significantly higher rate of c-erbB-2 ex pression than those with diffuse tumors (39.7% vs 18.4%, p<0.01). Conc lusions: Our results indicate that immunohistochemical expressions of p53 and c-erbB-2 are significantly associated with some histopathologi cal phenotypes. Genetic alterations of c-erbB-2 or p53 may not be affe cted by H. pylori infection. C-erbB-2 expression may be used as a mark er for identifying more aggressive gastric cancer for designing furthe r therapy.