Abnormal expression of β-catenin in the tissue of gastric adenocarcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression of β-catenin in different gastric tissues for the of early diagnosis and prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma.Method Immunohistochemical staining was conducted to check the expression or distribution of β-catenin in 67 gastric tissue samples and its relation with tumor invasion and metastasis.Results In comparison with normal gastric mucosa and premalignant,the positive rate of mebranous β-catenin expression was decreased and there were nuclear β-catenin distribution in gastric adenocarcinoma.Significant differences were found between with lymph node metastasis and with lymph node metastasis and between T1,2 and T3,4 in terms of the expression or distribution of β-catenin.Conclusion Abnormal expression of β-catenin may play an important role for the gastric adenocarcinogenesis and progression. It may be usefule in the early diagnosis and prognosis.