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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2009; 30(03): 99-102
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5851.64254
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Expression of human chorionic gonadotropin beta in gastric carcinoma: A retrospective immunohistochemical study

Kanchan M Murhekar
Department of Pathology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai, India
,
Jayaram N Anuratha
Department of Immunology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai, India
,
Urmila Majhi
Department of Pathology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai, India
,
Thangarajan Rajkumar
Department of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai, India
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Abstract

Context:Beta Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (βHCG), a marker of the trophoblastic neoplasm, is also secreted by non-trophoblastic neoplasms including gastric carcinomas. Its role in disease progression remains unclear.Aim:To investigate the incidence of βHCG positivity in gastric carcinomas and correlate its presence with the biological behavior of the tumor.Setting and Design:A hospital-based, immunohistochemical study.Materials and Methods:One hundred and fifty formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from histopathologically confirmed cases of gastric carcinoma were immunostained using an indigenously developed antibody against βHCG. Tumors with diffuse reactivity to βHCG were considered as positive. Those with occasional, focal or no reactivity to βHCG were considered as negative.Statistical Analysis:Differences in βHCG staining were compared according to the histological grade and surgical stage using the χ2test. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, the time till the onset of development of an adverse outcome after surgery (defined as death, local or distant metastasis) was compared between the bHCG positive and negative tumors.Results:Twenty-eight (18.7%) of the 150 specimens were βHCG positive. No association was found between the histological grade (P=0.49) and the surgical stage (P=0.19) with βHCG positivity. The median disease-free survival after surgery was not different among bHCG positive and negative tumors. Risk of an adverse outcome after surgery was significantly associated with the stage of the tumor (Hazard ratio=2.9, 95% confidence interval: 1.1-7.4). No association was observed with grade or βHCG positivity.Conclusion:βHCG immunoreactivity was observed in about one-fifth of the gastric cancers. bHCG reactivity, however, played no role in the biological behavior.

Keywords

βHCG - gastric carcinoma - immunohistochemistry - prognosis


Publication History

Article published online:
19 November 2021

© 2009. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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