Background: To investigate the potential role of a nuclear transcription factor, early growth response-1 (Egr-1), in formation and progression of gastric cancer, we compared its expression in gastric cancers with that in non-cancerous tissues.
Materials and methods: Egr-1 mRNA expression was measured using TaqMan RT-PCR. The corresponding protein expression was examined immunohistochemically.
Results: Egr-1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues than in normal mucosa (p < 0.0005). These differences were also reflected by protein product expression. Moreover, Egr-1 mRNA expression was higher in cases with metastasis to lymph nodes or remote organs. In cultured gastric cancer cells known to have a high metastatic potential, expression of this mRNA was higher than that of parental cells.
Conclusion: It was suggested that Egr-1 has a significant role in carcinogenesis and in cancer progression, especially metastasis. Measurement of this mRNA should be useful for evaluation of the metastatic potential of gastric cancer.