Effects of heparanase and E-cadherin on the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer.

Objective To investigate the effects of heparanase and E-cadherin on the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer. Methods Fifty specimens of gastric cancer which had been resected at Cancer Hospital of Liaoning Province from February 2005 to May 2007 were collected. The expression of heparanase mRNA and E-cadherin mRNA in these gastric cancer specimens was detected by RT-PCR, and the expression of E-cadherin in these gastric cancer specimens was detected by immunohistochemistry. Data were analyzed by t-test and variance analysis, and the enumeration data analyzed by chi-square test. Results There were significant differences in the expression of heparanase and E-cadherin between gastric cancer cells with high and low differentiation, presence and absence of metastasis, and TNM stages Ⅰ and Ⅱ versus Ⅲ and Ⅳ (t = 1.999, 4.258, 1.735 ; 1.286, 6.794, 3.091; χ2 =6.273, 9.397, 5.640, P <0.05). The co-expression of heparanase (+) and E-cadherin (-) was correlated with tumor undifferentiation, lymph node metastasis and advanced TNM staging (χ2 =11.306, 10.208, 8.420, P <0.05). Conclusions Heparanasc shows high expression while E-cadherin shows low expression in gastric cancer tissue. There is a synergistic effect between the abnormal expression of heparanase and E-cadherin, and the gastric cancer cells with coexpression of heparanase and E-cadherin have more malignant potential. Key words: Gastric neoplasms;  Heparanase;  E-cadherin;  Invasion;  Metastasis