J Korean Surg Soc.
2000 Feb;58(2):222-229.
Preliminary Results for Changes in the Expression of Angiogenic Factors with Stage in Gastric Cancer
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Surgery, Dong-A University College of Medicine.
- 2Department of Biochemistry, Dong-A University College of Medicine.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that the expression of angiogenic factors by tumor cells contributes
to the increased neovascularization and vessel permeability that are associated with tumor vasculature.
However, the significance of protein expression involving tumor angiogenesis in gastric cancer has yet
not to be classified.
METHODS
In this study, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), cyclooxygenase
(Cox), and nitric-oxide synthase (NOS) were investigated in 14 surgically resected human gastric carci
nomas by using western blotting.
RESULTS
In 6 of 14 paired cases, VEGF expression in the tumor tissue was slightly increased compared
with the nonneoplastic counterpart in the same specimen. However, the expression of inducible-type
Cox-2 was significantly increased in tumor tissue while the expression of constitutive-type Cox-1 was
decreased. The expression of endothelial-type eNOS in cancer tissue was shown to be higher than in
normal gastric resected tissues, but the expression of nNOS in cancer was lower than it was in a normal
gastric mucosa.
CONCLUSION
Although a direct positive correlation between VEGF expression and cyclooxygenase or
nitric oxide synthase was not found in differnt stages of gastric tumor development, the cyclooxygenase
and nitric-oxide synthase may play an important role in gastric cancer development.