Expression of PTEN protein in the gastric carcinoma and peripheral lymph nodes

Objective To investigate the expression of PTEN protein in human gastric cancer and its relative lymph nodes,so to explore its role in the development and metastasis of gastric cancer.Methods The expression of PTEN protein in 62 cases of gastric primary carcinoma,the matched adjacent normal gastric tissue and peripheral lymph nodes were detected by immunohistochemical S-P technique,which was analyzed with patients' pathological data.Results The expression rate of PTEN in gastric cancerous focus(41.9%,26/62) was lower than that in the matched adjacent normal gastric tissue (100.0%,62/62),but was higher than that in the lymph node with metastasis of gastric carcer(31.4%,27/86),with statistic significance(χ2=8.41 and χ2=6.75,respectly, P0.01).The Expression rate of PTEN in peripheral lymph nodes with metastasis(31.4%,27/86) was lower than that without metastasis(92.1%,35/38)(χ2=8.34,P0.01),but there was no difference between in N1(32.1%,18/53) and in N2(30.3%(10/33) with lymph nodes metastasis (χ2=2.31,P0.05).There was negative correlation between the expression of PTEN and lymph node metastasis.Conclusions The tumor suppressor gene PTEN plays some roles in the lymph nodes metastasis of human gastric cancer.