Background/aims: In patients with gastric carcinoma, the prognostic significance of c-erbB-2 oncogene expression was elucidated, but its role in the aggressive behavior of tumors is not clear.
Patients and methods: We asked whether or not cerbB-2 gene expression may have predictability with regard to the metastatic potential in 160 patients with gastric carcinoma using a immunohistochemical staining and a multivariate analysis.
Results: c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity was observed in 11% (17/160) of tumors. Patients with c-erbB-2 product positive tumors had a significant shorter prognosis (p < 0.05), and were characterized by a high incidence of peritoneal dissemination (41%), liver metastasis (18%) and lymph node involvement (94%). In the multivariate logistic analysis revealed that c-erbB-2 expression was a significant risk factor related to lymph node involvement (p < 0.01).
Conclusions: Our multivariate analysis revealed that c-erbB-2 expression is linked to the metastatic potential in patients with gastric carcinoma.