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The correlation of epidermal growth factor with invasion and metastasis in human gastric cancer

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Abstract

We examined the localization of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in 185 specimens of primary human gastric cancer using the avidinbiotin peroxidase complex immunohistochemical method on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections. Thirty-four per cent of the gastric cancer specimens were positive for EGF, which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cancer cells and occasionally in the stromal cells, but was not detected in non-cancerous gastric epithelium. Moreover, the presence of EGF in gastric cancer was correlated with gastric wall invasion and lymph node metastasis. EGF was found more often in advanced cancers than in early ones (p<0.01), and also more often in cancers with lymph node metastasis than in those without (p<0.05). The five-year survival of patients with EGF-positive tumors was worse than that of patients with EGF-negative tumors (p<0.05). The presence of EGF in human gastric cancer may thus represent higher malignant potential.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The First Department of Surgery, Nipon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, 113, Tokyo, Japan

    Masahiko Onda MD, Akira Tokunaga, Keigo Nishi, Toshiro Yoshiyuki, Yasuhito Shimizu, Teruo Kiyama, Takashi Mizutani, Norio Matsukura, Noritake Tanaka & Kiyohiko Yamashita

  2. Department of Pathology, Nipon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, 113, Tokyo, Japan

    Goro Asano

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  1. Masahiko Onda MD
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Onda, M., Tokunaga, A., Nishi, K. et al. The correlation of epidermal growth factor with invasion and metastasis in human gastric cancer. The Japanese Journal of Surgery 20, 269–274 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02470660

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02470660

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