Expression of Dnmt1 in gastric carcinomas and its clinicopathologic significance

Objective:To investigate the expression of Dnmt1 protein and its clinicopathologic significance in gastric carcinoma.Methods: The expression of Dnmt1 protein in 20 normal gastric tissues,40 gastric atypical hyperplasia tissues and 70 gastric carcinoma tissues were detected by SP immunohistochemistry method.Results: Dnmt1 expression showed an increasing tendency in normal gastric mucosa,gastric atypical hyperplasia and gastric carcinoma tissues ordinarily,and there were statistical differences between the groups(χ2=34.710,P0.01).The poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma tissues showed stronger nuclear immunoreactivity than the well-differentiated adenocarcinoma tissues,but there was no difference in the degree of histological differentiation(P0.05).The expression of Dnmt1 protein in gastric carcinoma was not correlated with the clinicopathologic parameters: gender,age,the size of ulcer,lymph nodes metastasis,infiltration degree(P0.05),but was correlated with the vessel invasion(P0.05).Conclusion: The overexpression of Dnmt1 protein in gastric carcinoma tissues may be one of the important causes for the occurrence and development of gastric carcinoma.Dnmt1 might be a valuable marker for the diagnosis of gastric carcinoma in earlier period.