Expressions Of TGF-β1, Smad4 And Ki-67 In Gastric Carcinoma And Their Correlations

Objectives: To investigate the expressions and correlations of TGF-β1, Smad4 and Ki-67 in normal, atypical hyperplasia and gastric carcinoma, and to provide experimental and theoretical evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of gastric carcinoma.Methods: Expressions of TGF-B1, Smad4 and Ki-67 were detected by immunohistochemical SP method in 20 cases of normal gastric mucosa, 30 cases of atypical hyperplasia, and 60 cases of gastric carcinoma. Correlations among the expressions of TGF-β1, Smad4 and Ki-67, and with various clinical pathological factors were also analyzed.Results: (1) The expression rates of TGF-β1 in normal gastric mucosa, precancerous lesions and gastric carcinoma were 45%, 50% and 68.3% respectively. The expression rates of Smad4 in the above three groups were 80%, 66.6% and 45% respectively while the expression rates of Ki.67 were 35%, 53.3% and 66.6%, respectively. There were statistical differences in the expressions of TGF-B1, Smad4 and Ki67 among these three groups(P＜0.05). (2)The expressions of TGF-β1, Smad4 and Ki-67 in gastric carcinoma were not correlated with age and sex (P＞0.05) However, the expressions of TGF-β1 and Ki-67 were correlated with distant and lymph node metastases (P＜0.05) . The expression of Smad4 was correlated with lymph node metastasis (P＜0.05) but not with distant metastasis (P＞0.05). (3) In gastric carcinoma, there was a negative correlation between TGF-β1 and Smad4 expressions (γ=-0.366, P=0.002), a positive correlation between TGF-β1 and Ki-67 expressions (γ=0.328, P=0.010) , and no correlation between Ki-67 and Smad4 expressions (γ=0.179, P=0.171)Conclusions: (1) Expressions of TGF-β1 and Ki-67 were subsequently up-regulated in normal gastric mucosa, atypical hyperplasia and gastric carcinoma. Smad4 showed strong positive expression in normal gastric mucosa, but subsequently down-regulated in atypical hyperplasia and gastric carcinoma. All these suggest that expressions of TGF-β1, Smad4 and Ki-67 are related to epithelial cancerization and may be used as indexes for earlier diagnosis of gastric carcinoma. (2)TGF-B1 expression was closely correlated with that of Smad4 in gastric carcinoma. The up-regulation of TGF-β1 expression and the loss of Smad4 expression may accelerate the proliferation of gastric carcinoma. The expressions of TGF-β1, Smad4 and Ki-67 are main indexes of the biological behaviors of gastric carcinoma, so combined detection of the expressions of TGF-β1, Smad4 and Ki-67 in gastric carcinoma may be helpful for its pathological grades and selections of therapeutic schemes.