Tumor associated macrophages are major inflammatory cells that play an important role in the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we investigated the prognostic significance of tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) in MSI-high gastric cancers using immunohistochemistry. CD68 and CD163 were used as markers for total infiltrating macrophages and M2-polarized macrophages, respectively. The density...

BACKGROUND Recently, aberrant methylation of the CHFR gene associated with gene silencing has been reported in several cancers. The methylation status of the CHFR gene was examined in primary esophageal and gastric carcinomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS The methylation status of the CHFR promoter region and mRNA expression in cancer cell lines were examined first. The methylation status of the CHF...

Before the introduction of endoscopy, four out of 720 cases of gastric cancer were diagnosed before the cancer had breached the muscularis propia, an incidence of 0.5%. Using endoscopy and endoscopic biopsy, 10 out of 101 cases of gastric cancer were diagnosed at this "early" stage, an incidence of 10%. Their clinical, morphological, and histological characteristics are compared with those of J...

The development of multiple gastric cancer is a major problem after the endoscopic resection of the first early gastric cancer. To find out markers to identify high risk patients, we analyzed the microsatellite instability (MSI) status and hypermethylation of tumor-related genes in multiple gastric cancers. Sixty-four adenocarcinomas resected by endoscopy, including 32 early solitary gastric ca...

Mitotic checkpoints prevent errors in chromosome segregation that can lead to neoplasia. Therefore, it is notable that gastric cancers often show impaired checkpoint function. In the present study, we examined the functional consequences of epigenetic inactivation of the mitotic checkpoint gene CHFR in gastric cancers. CHFR expression was silenced by DNA methylation of the 5 region of the gene ...

We analyzed DNA copy number aberrations (DCNAs) by chromosomal comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in 93 consecutive sporadic gastric adenocarcinomas. In addition, numerical aberrations in chromosomes 7, 11, 17, and 18 were evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Gastric cancers were divided on the basis of nuclear DNA content measured by laser scanning cytometry (LSC) into ...

background a considerable portion of gastrointestinal malignancies undergoes surgery without curative resection. this study was conducted to assess surgical outcome in patients with gastrointestinal cancers. methods we reviewed individuals with esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum cancers admitted for surgical treatment after initial preoperative evaluations. surgical outcome, stage of tumors a...

Most of the gastric cancers investigated in this study were detected during mass screening at a Medical Check-up Center. The research period was 5 years, from 1990 to 1994. The total number of patients undergoing initial gastric examinations was 300,658. Four point eight percent of these needed detailed examinations, and 77.2% actually underwent detailed examinations. Over the 5 years, the numb...

Gastric emptying was compared in patients with gastric cancers and fundal gastritis to determine its value in identifying patients at high risk of gastric cancer. Gastric emptying was measured by the acetaminophen absorption method, and the extent of fundal gastritis was determined by the endoscopic Congo red test. The results showed that gastric emptying was significantly slower in patients wi...

We have identified an 8-gene signature with significant expression differences between gastric cancer and normal gastric tissues. This 8-gene set can predict the normal and cancer status of gastric tissues with more than 96% accuracy in a totally independent microarray dataset. The 8 genes are composed of down-regulated KLF4, GPX3, SST and LIPF, together with up-regulated SERPINH1, THY1 and INH...