Down regulation of gastric and intestinal phenotypic expression in Epstein-Barr virus-associated stomach cancers

• Autores: N. Hirano, Tetsuya Tsukamoto, Tsutomu Mizoshita, C. Koriyama, S. Akiba, F. Campos, Gabriel Carrasquilla Gutiérrez, E. Carrascal, Xiaoguang Cao, T Toyoda, Hisayo Ban, K. Miki, Masae Tatematsu
• Localización: Histology and histopathology: cellular and molecular biology, ISSN-e 1699-5848, ISSN 0213-3911, Vol. 22, Nº. 6, 2007, págs. 641-649
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Aims: We have previously demonstrated the importance of gastric and intestinal phenotypic expression for stomach carcinogenesis. In this study, we focused on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated stomach cancers, with special attention to Cdx2.

    Methods and Results: We evaluated the expression of gastric and intestinal phenotypic markers by immunohistochemistry in 35 EBV-positive [EBV (+)] and 75 EBV-negative [EBV (-)] stomach cancers in Colombia. The lesions were divided phenotypically into gastric (G), gastric-and-intestinal mixed (GI), intestinal (I), and null (N) phenotypes. In the EBV (+) cases, the lesions were divided phenotypically into 9 G (25.7%), 1 GI (2.9%), 3 I (8.6%), and 22 N (62.9%) types. Similarly, the EBV (-) lesions were also classified phenotypically as 15 G (20.0%), 19 GI (25.3%), 24 I (32.0%), and 17 N (22.7%) types. The proportion of N type EBV (+) lesions was higher than for their EBV (-) counterparts (P<0.0001). The expression of Cdx2 and MUC2 was also found to be significantly lower in EBV (+) than in EBV (-) stomach cancers (P=0.0001; P<0.0001). Cdx2 expression in the intestinal metaplastic glands present in non-neoplastic mucosa surrounding EBV (+) lesions was also significantly lower than in EBV (-) tumors (P=0.016) despite no evidence of EBV infection.

    Conclusions. EBV (+) stomach cancers are characterized by low expression of intestinal phenotype markers, including Cdx2, and only occasional gastric phenotypic expression