Relationship Between PTEN Expression and Apoptosis in Gastric Carcinoma

Objective:To study the expression of suppressor PTEN protein in gastric carcinoma and the relationship between PTEN expression and apoptosis in the tumor.Methods:The expression of PTEN protein was examined with immunohistochemical S-P method in 20 specimens of normal gastric mucosa and 80 specimen of gastric carcinoma.The apoptosis index(AI)was examined with terminal deoxymucleotidyl transference mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL) technique.Results:All normal mucosas were positive for PTEN.In the 80 gastric carcinomas.52.5%(842/80) were positive for PTEN protein,The expression of PTEN was well associated with histological differentiation,TNM stage and lymph node metastasis(P0.05).The apoptosis index(AI)of gastric carcinoma cell was negatively associated with TNM stage and histological differentiation(P0.01).The expression of PTEN was positively correlated with the AI of gastric carcinoma cell(P0.01).Conclusion:PTEN may play an important role in the course of tumorigenesis and progression in gastric carcinoma.The inhibition of apoptosis in gastric carcinoma could related with the down-expression of PTEN protein.