New Prognostic Markers For Gastric Cancer Patients

Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Genetics
Article Date: 21 May 2008 - 6:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

In standard clinical settings, DNA microarrays are currently unsuitable for routine use. Prognostic classification on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues is required. In this study, we looked for new molecular markers for identifying the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.

This study, performed by a team led by Professor Zhong-Sheng Zhao, is described in a research article published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

The team identified that syndecan-1, E-cadherin and integrins highly correlated with each other as intracellular adhesion molecular complexes. We suggest the results of co-examination of them can be important indexes for the prognosis of gastric carcinoma. In the view of the authors, to date no clear mechanism has been found to explain the interaction of the three molecules, and no clinical research has been done to verify the findings.

Traditional clinicopathologic factors and several interesting molecules, including cell cycle regulation factors such as p27 or cyclin E, cell adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin, angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor and placenta growth factor, oncogenes such as c-erbB2 and c-myc, and tumor suppressor genes such as p53, have been reported to correlate to the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Cell adhesion is one of important steps in the multi-step process of gastric cancer pathogenesis.

Further research should collect more samples and emphasize the importance of studying multiple genetic alterations in concert.

----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------

Reference: Chu YQ, Ye ZY, Tao HQ, Wang YY, Zhao ZS. Relationship between cell adhesion molecules expression and the biological behavior of gastric carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(13): 1990-1996 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/1990.asp

Correspondence to: Dr. Zhong-Sheng Zhao, Department of Pathology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China.

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection for providing a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

About The WJG Press

The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Source: Jing Zhu
World Journal of Gastroenterology