@article{oai:niigata-u.repo.nii.ac.jp:00006282, author = {ITO, Kazushige and KASUYA, Kazuhiko and AOKI, Tatsuya and TAKAGI, Yu and KATAYANAGI, So and TSUCHIDA, Akihiko and KOYANAGI, Yasuhisa}, issue = {3}, journal = {Acta medica et biologica, Acta medica et biologica}, month = {Sep}, note = {The first step of cancer metastasis requires an abnormality of adhesive factors, especially E-cadherin. The causes of abnormal E-cadherin expression consist of gene mutation and methylation of its promoter. An abnormality of E-cadherin protein expression has been frequently found in infiltratively growing tumors such as breast cancers rather than in highly differentiated tumors such as colorectal cancers. However, there have been few reports about abnormal E-cadherin methylation in gastric cancer. In the present study, we examined the relationships between the abnormal expression of E-cadherin, methylation of E-cadherin, abnormal expression of α-catenin and pathological prognostic factors, tumor growth type, and distant metastasis. Materials and Methods : We evaluated the expression of E-cadherin andα-catenin immunohistochemically and the mutational status of E-cadherin methylation in 38 patients with gastric cancer. Results : Abnormal expressions of E-cadherin and α-catenin were observed in 20 cases (52.6%) and 11 cases (28.9%), respectively. The E-cadherin expression was significantly correlated with tumor growth type, histological type, depth of invasion and size of tumor. Fifteen cases were positive for E-cadherin methylation (39.5%), which was seen in cases with dissemination or tumors localized in the upper stomach (in particular the fundic gland zone). Conclusion : A decrease of either E-cadherin expression or methylation has is closely related to infiltrative tumor growth and dissemination.}, pages = {117--123}, title = {E-cadherin Methylation and Protein Decrease are Related to Infiltrative Growth and Peritoneal Dissemination in Gastric Cancer}, volume = {50}, year = {2002} }