Molecular markers (PECAM-1, ICAM-3, HLA-DR) determine prognosis in primary non-Hodgkin's gastric lymphoma patients

• Published in: World journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 12; no. 12; pp. 1924 - 1932
• Main Authors: Darom, Alexander, Gomatos, Ilias P, Leandros, Emmanuel, Chatzigianni, Emmu, Panousopoulos, Dimitris, Konstadoulakis, Manousos M, Androulakis, George
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Laboratory of Surgical Research, First Department of Propaedeutic Surgery, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital of Athens, 114 Q. Sofia Ave, 11527 Athens, Greece 28.03.2006; Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antigens, CD - analysis; Cell Adhesion Molecules - analysis; Clinical Research; Female; HLA-DR Antigens - analysis; Humans; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - chemistry; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - mortality; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 - analysis; Prognosis; Stomach Neoplasms - chemistry; Stomach Neoplasms - mortality; Stomach Neoplasms - pathology; Survival Analysis; PECAM-1; Prognosis; HLA-DR; ICAM-3; Non-Hodgkin's gastric lymphoma
• ISSN: 1007-9327; 2219-2840
• DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i12.1924

To investigate the prognostic significance of PECAM-1, ICAM-3 and HLA-DR antigens in patients with primary non-Hodgkin's gastric lymphoma. We immunohistochemically studied PECAM-1, ICAM-3 and HLA-DR antigen expression in 36 B-cell MALT-type primary gastric lymphoma patients. Ten non-malignant and ten healthy gastric tissue specimens were used as controls. Clinicopathological and survival data were correlated with the staining results. HLA-DR antigen expression was detected in 33 gastric lymphoma patients (91.7%) and 6 non-malignant patients (54.5%). PECAM-1 stained tumor cells of 10 patients (27.8%), endothelial cells of 9 patients (25%) and inflammatory infiltrate of 4 patients (40%) with benign gastric disease. ICAM-3 expression was observed on the tumor cells of 17 patients (47.2%), while 5 non-malignant patients (50%) were stained positive as well. None of the healthy controls was stained for any of the genes studied. In the multivariate analysis, HLA-DR antigen and PECAM-1 were proved to be statistically significant independent prognostic factors associated with a favourable and an unfavourable prognosis respectively (P=0.009 and P=0.003). In the univariate analysis, PECAM-1(+)/ICAM-3(-) and HLA-DR(-)/ICAM-3(-) patients exhibited a significantly decreased overall survival compared to those with the exactly opposite gene expression patterns (P=0.0041 and P=0.0091, respectively). Those patients who were HLA-DR(+)/ICAM-3(+)/PECAM-1(-) (n=8) had a significantly higher survival rate compared to the rest of the group (n=24) (P=0.0289). PECAM-1, ICAM-3 and HLA-DR are representative markers of tumor expansion potential and host immune surveillance respectively. Their combined use may help us to identify high-risk patients who could benefit from more aggressive therapeutic protocols.