Association between Maspin Protein and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C Expression in Gastric Cancer

Objective 　To explore the association between Maspin protein and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C expression in Gast ric Cancer. Methods 　Maspin and VEGF-C proteins were detected in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 61 cases of gastric cancer tissues treated from 2002 to 2003 in Tumor Hospital affiliated to Harbin Medical Univercity by S-P immunohistochemical method. To analyze the level of their expression different clinical and pathological characteristics . Results 　The positive rate of maspin protein expression was 50. 8 %(31/ 61) in gasrci carcinoma 。Maspin expression in gastric carcinoma with lymph node metastasis was significantly lower than that in those without metastasis (32. 6 % vs 94. 4 %, P = 0. 000), and down regulation of the expression level was associated with poorly differentiated phenotype, late TNM stage and direct invasion around stamoch ( P = 0. 018, 0. 011 and 0. 028, respectively) . The positive rate of VEGF-C expression was 86. 9 %(53/ 61) in gast ric carcinoma . The positive rate of VEGF-C expression in gast ric cancerous tissues with lymph node metastasis was higher than that in non-metastasis (95. 3 % vs 66. 7 %, P = 0. 006) . The expression of maspin protein was negative associated with the expression of VEGF-C by statistically analysis ( spearman r = 0. 429 P =0. 001) . Conclusion 　Expression of maspin shows down regulation in gast ric cancer . It is correlated to the malignant biological behaviors of gastric carcinoma. VEGF-C is well associated with proliferation and dilation of lymphatic vessels. There is a negative correlation between the expression of Maspin and VEGF-C.