Objective: To observe the expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), transcription factor SP1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD34 (demonstrating by microvessel density, MVD) in serosa-infiltrative gastric cancer (T3) and their relations with the pathobiological behavior of the tumor, and to investigate the molecular basis of the defluxion of gastric cancer cells in abdominal cavity and its influence on prognosis.
Methods: Selective collection of peritoneal lavage was obtained from 80 patients with serosa-infiltrative gastric cancer received operation from April to December in 2007. The cancer cells were detected by using peritoneal lavage cytology (PLC) and immunochemistry of cytokeratin 18 (CK18). Immunohistochemistry was applied to detect the HGF, SP1, VEGF and CD34 in serosa-infiltrative gastric cancer tissues. The rigorous follow-up was carried out for the patients.
Results: The positive rate of PLC was 63.8% (51/80), and the positive rate of immunochemistry of CK18 was 75.0% (60/80). The positive cases in PLC were positive in immunochemistry of CK18 also, while 9 negative cases in PLC were positive with CK18, and of them 6 cases were determined positive with exfoliated cancer cells through pathological consulting. So the positive rate of exfoliated cells of this group was 71.3% (57/80). The positive rates of HGF, SP1 and VEGF in gastric cancer tissues were 57.5%, 52.5% and 55.0%, respectively, and were all significantly correlated with the MVD (P < 0.05). HGF, SP1, VEGF and MVD were correlated with the positive rate of exfoliated cells (P < 0.05). HGF, SP1, VEGF and MVD were found significantly related to prognosis on univariate analysis (P < 0.05), and it was demonstrated that HGF, SP1 and VEGF were independent prognostic influential factors on Logistic regression analysis (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: The expression of HGF, SP1, VEGF and MVD are related with the biological behaviour of serosa-infiltrative gastric cancer. The detection of these factors might be helpful in predicting the defluxion of gastric cancer cells and postoperative recurrence.