The expression and significance of heparanase in gastric carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression of heparanase protein in human gastric carcinoma and the pathological features. Methods The expression of heparanase protein in 97 cases of gastric cancer was studied by immunohistochemistry. Results The positive rate of heparanase protein was 61.9% in tumor tissues. Analysis of the clinicopathologic features showed stronger heparanase expression in the cases of huge growing tumors, venous and lymphatic invasion, regional lymph node metastasis , serosal infiltration, distant metastases, and TNM stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ(P0.05). The 1, 3 and 5-year survival rates of patients with positive heparanase protein were significantly less than that of patients with negative heparanase (P0.05). Conclusion The positive expression for heparanase protein was significantly correlated with cancer invasion, metastasis and prognosis in gastric carcinoma.