HUMAN EPIDERMAL GROWTH-FACTOR IN GASTRIC-CARCINOMA AS A BIOLOGIC MARKER OF HIGH MALIGNANCY

  • 1 February 1986
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 77  (2) , 145-152
Abstract
The presence of human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) was studied in a total of 210 gastric carcinomas comprising 52 early carcinomas, 113 advanced carcinomas and 45 scirrhous carcinomas. An immunohistochemical study revealed no hEGF-immunoreactivity in early gastric carcinomas, while hEGF-positive tumor cells were detected in 24 (21.2%) of the 113 advanced carcinomas and in 15 (33.3%) of the 45 scirrhous carcinomas. The incidence of hEGF-immunoreactivity in well-differentiated adenocarcinomas was significantly higher than that in poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas (P<0.05). Moreover, hEGF-immunoreactive tumor cells were observed in 13 (30.4%) of the 42 scirrhous poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas, the incidence being significantly higher than that in non-scirrhous poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas (P<0.05). The average hEGF content in the tumor tissue estimated by radioimmunoassay was 3.77.+-.0.61 (mean.+-.SE) ng/g wet weight in immunohistochemical hEGF-positive tumors and 2.19.+-.0.18 ng/g wet weight in hEGF-negative tumors, the difference being significant (P<0.05). Patients with hEGF-positive carcinomas (excluding scirrhous carcinomas) had much worse prognosis than those with hEGF-negative carcinomas. These results suggest that EGF produced by tumor cells plays an important role in the invasive growth and productive fibrosis of gastric carcinoma and also serves as a biologic marker of high malignancy in patients with gastric cancers.