AIM: Ets1 proto-oncogene is a transcription factor involved in the activation of several genes of tumor invasion and metastasis. We aimed to determine the relationship between the extent and intensity of Ets1 expressi...AIM: Ets1 proto-oncogene is a transcription factor involved in the activation of several genes of tumor invasion and metastasis. We aimed to determine the relationship between the extent and intensity of Ets1 expression and patients'' clinicopathological factors in gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Immunohistochemical analysis was performed for gastric tumor paraffin-embedded sections, followed by image analysis. RESULTS: Ets1 was not expressed in the normal gastric epithelium and its surrounding cells. The percentage of Ets1 expressing cells detected increased significantly in both epithelial tumor and stromal cells from high T classification, lymph node metastasis positive, clinical advanced-stage groups (P<0.05). The level of Etsl staining in epithelial tumor cells also reflected the degree of cell differentiation. The percentage of epithelial and stromal cells expressing Ets1 was significantly correlated with the presence of lymph node metastasis (P=0.014 and P=0.O01 respectively). Ets1 expression was not observed in tissue samples from patients with benign gastric ulcers.CONCLUSION: Ets1 protein expression in epithelial tumor cells reflects the degree of differentiation, and the percentage of Etsl positive tumor and stromal cells correlates with lymph node metastasis. Thus Etsl is a valuable marker of malignant potential in terms of invasiveness and metastasis of gastric carcinoma. It is also possible that inhibition of Etsl is a potential avenue for therapy in gastric cancer.展开更多
OBJECTIVE To determine whether dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI features of the early -phase enhancement rate, enhancement amplitude, and signal-intensity (SI) time course are associated with the microvessel density (MV...OBJECTIVE To determine whether dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI features of the early -phase enhancement rate, enhancement amplitude, and signal-intensity (SI) time course are associated with the microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression of malignant and benign breast lesions. METHODS Sixty patients with breast lesions, detected with physical examination or conventional mammography, were examined pre-operatively with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI from December 1998 to June 2000. Of these 60 patients, histopathological correlation was available in 38. These 38 patients(aged 29-73 years) formed the basis of this study. SI changes during dynamic scanning were assessed quantitatively. Early-phase enhancement rate and enhancement amplitude were calculated. Time-Sl curves of the lesions were obtained and classified according to their shapes as type I (which was steady enhancement to the end of the dynamic data acquisition at 7.5rain.), type Ⅱ (plateau of SI after avid initial contrast enhancement), or type Ⅲ (washout of SI after avid initial contrast enhancement). The mean MVD and VEGF expression of the lesions were measured with immunohistochemical staining methods in all the pathologic specimens by a pathologist without knowledge of the results of the MR examination. Care was taken to ensure identical location in the plane of the MR image and pathologic specimens. The relationships among dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI features, MVD, and VEGF expression of benign and malignant breast lesions were analyzed. RESULTS Histology revealed 21 malignancies and 17 benign lesions. The mean MVD and VEGF expression for the 21 malignant lesions were significantly higher than the mean MVD and VEGF expression for the 17 benign lesions (P<0.01). High VEGF expression of benign and malignant breast lesions showed a significant association with increased MVD (P<0.01). Among all 38 lesions, greater (>60%) MR early-phase enhancement rate and time-SI curve type Ⅱ or Ⅲ showed a significant association with MVD and VEGF expression. All the differences mentioned above showed statistical significance (P <0.01) except the difference between VEGF expression and the distribution of curve types which had no statistical significance (P=0.069). No significant relationships were observed between the enhancement amplitude and MVD (P>0.05) and VEGF expression (P>0.05). Regarding the distribution of MVD, the study showed that the greater MVD was most frequently observed at the marginal region of the breast cancers, although the distribution of MVD was heterogeneous in each lesion. CONCLUSIONS MVD and VEGF affect the contrast medium enhancement of breast lesions. The early-phaseenhancement rate and time-SI curve types of benign and malignant breast lesions are closely related to MVD and VEGF. As a noninvasive method, contrast-enhanced MRI has a potential role in estimating the degree of angiogenesis of breast neoplasms.展开更多
文摘AIM: Ets1 proto-oncogene is a transcription factor involved in the activation of several genes of tumor invasion and metastasis. We aimed to determine the relationship between the extent and intensity of Ets1 expression and patients'' clinicopathological factors in gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Immunohistochemical analysis was performed for gastric tumor paraffin-embedded sections, followed by image analysis. RESULTS: Ets1 was not expressed in the normal gastric epithelium and its surrounding cells. The percentage of Ets1 expressing cells detected increased significantly in both epithelial tumor and stromal cells from high T classification, lymph node metastasis positive, clinical advanced-stage groups (P<0.05). The level of Etsl staining in epithelial tumor cells also reflected the degree of cell differentiation. The percentage of epithelial and stromal cells expressing Ets1 was significantly correlated with the presence of lymph node metastasis (P=0.014 and P=0.O01 respectively). Ets1 expression was not observed in tissue samples from patients with benign gastric ulcers.CONCLUSION: Ets1 protein expression in epithelial tumor cells reflects the degree of differentiation, and the percentage of Etsl positive tumor and stromal cells correlates with lymph node metastasis. Thus Etsl is a valuable marker of malignant potential in terms of invasiveness and metastasis of gastric carcinoma. It is also possible that inhibition of Etsl is a potential avenue for therapy in gastric cancer.
文摘OBJECTIVE To determine whether dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI features of the early -phase enhancement rate, enhancement amplitude, and signal-intensity (SI) time course are associated with the microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression of malignant and benign breast lesions. METHODS Sixty patients with breast lesions, detected with physical examination or conventional mammography, were examined pre-operatively with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI from December 1998 to June 2000. Of these 60 patients, histopathological correlation was available in 38. These 38 patients(aged 29-73 years) formed the basis of this study. SI changes during dynamic scanning were assessed quantitatively. Early-phase enhancement rate and enhancement amplitude were calculated. Time-Sl curves of the lesions were obtained and classified according to their shapes as type I (which was steady enhancement to the end of the dynamic data acquisition at 7.5rain.), type Ⅱ (plateau of SI after avid initial contrast enhancement), or type Ⅲ (washout of SI after avid initial contrast enhancement). The mean MVD and VEGF expression of the lesions were measured with immunohistochemical staining methods in all the pathologic specimens by a pathologist without knowledge of the results of the MR examination. Care was taken to ensure identical location in the plane of the MR image and pathologic specimens. The relationships among dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI features, MVD, and VEGF expression of benign and malignant breast lesions were analyzed. RESULTS Histology revealed 21 malignancies and 17 benign lesions. The mean MVD and VEGF expression for the 21 malignant lesions were significantly higher than the mean MVD and VEGF expression for the 17 benign lesions (P<0.01). High VEGF expression of benign and malignant breast lesions showed a significant association with increased MVD (P<0.01). Among all 38 lesions, greater (>60%) MR early-phase enhancement rate and time-SI curve type Ⅱ or Ⅲ showed a significant association with MVD and VEGF expression. All the differences mentioned above showed statistical significance (P <0.01) except the difference between VEGF expression and the distribution of curve types which had no statistical significance (P=0.069). No significant relationships were observed between the enhancement amplitude and MVD (P>0.05) and VEGF expression (P>0.05). Regarding the distribution of MVD, the study showed that the greater MVD was most frequently observed at the marginal region of the breast cancers, although the distribution of MVD was heterogeneous in each lesion. CONCLUSIONS MVD and VEGF affect the contrast medium enhancement of breast lesions. The early-phaseenhancement rate and time-SI curve types of benign and malignant breast lesions are closely related to MVD and VEGF. As a noninvasive method, contrast-enhanced MRI has a potential role in estimating the degree of angiogenesis of breast neoplasms.
