Brief Article
Copyright ©2010 Baishideng. All rights reserved
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2010; 16(9): 1129-1137
Published online Mar 7, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i9.1129
Alterations of tumor-related genes do not exactly match the histopathological grade in gastric adenocarcinomas
Guo-Yan Liu, Kun-Hong Liu, Yong Zhang, Yu-Zhi Wang, Xiao-Hong Wu, Yi-Zhuo Lu, Chao Pan, Ping Yin, Hong-Feng Liao, Ji-Qin Su, Qing Ge, Qi Luo, Bin Xiong
Guo-Yan Liu, Xiao-Hong Wu, Yi-Zhuo Lu, Chao Pan, Ping Yin, Hong-Feng Liao, Ji-Qin Su, Qing Ge, Qi Luo, Department of General Surgery, The Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, The Digestive Disease Research Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, Fujian Province, China
Guo-Yan Liu, Bin Xiong, Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China
Kun-Hong Liu, Department of Data Mining, Software School of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian Province, China
Yong Zhang, Yu-Zhi Wang, The Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China
Author contributions: Liu GY and Liu KH are joint first authors; Liu GY and Liu KH contributed equally to this work; Luo Q and Xiong B are the joint corresponding authors for the research; Zhang Y and Wang YZ provided guidance for the study; Wu XH, Pan C, Yin P, Liao HF, Su JQ, Ge Q and Lu YZ provided the samples and offered pathological help.
Supported by Xiamen Health Bureau, No. 3502z20089009; Xiamen Science and Technology Bureau, No. 3502Z20074023; and Youth Fund of Fujian Health Department, No. 2008-1-52, Fujian Province, China
Correspondence to: Bin Xiong, MD, PhD, Professor, The Affiliated Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China. binxiong88@yahoo.com
Telephone: +86-592-2993152 Fax: +86-592-2212328
Received: November 13, 2009
Revised: December 9, 2009
Accepted: December 16, 2009
Published online: March 7, 2010
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the diverse characteristics of different pathological gradings of gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) using tumor-related genes.

METHODS: GA tissues in different pathological gradings and normal tissues were subjected to tissue arrays. Expressions of 15 major tumor-related genes were detected by RNA in situ hybridization along with 3’ terminal digoxin-labeled anti-sense single stranded oligonucleotide and locked nucleic acid modifying probe within the tissue array. The data obtained were processed by support vector machines by four different feature selection methods to discover the respective critical gene/gene subsets contributing to the GA activities of different pathological gradings.

RESULTS: In comparison of poorly differentiated GA with normal tissues, tumor-related gene TP53 plays a key role, although other six tumor-related genes could also achieve the Area Under Curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic independently by more than 80%. Comparing the well differentiated GA with normal tissues, we found that 11 tumor-related genes could independently obtain the AUC by more than 80%, but only the gene subsets, TP53, RB and PTEN, play a key role. Only the gene subsets, Bcl10, UVRAG, APC, Beclin1, NM23, PTEN and RB could distinguish between the poorly differentiated and well differentiated GA. None of a single gene could obtain a valid distinction.

CONCLUSION: Different from the traditional point of view, the well differentiated cancer tissues have more alterations of important tumor-related genes than the poorly differentiated cancer tissues.

Keywords: Pathological grading; Gastric adenocarcinoma; Tumor-related gene; Support vector machine; RNA in situ hybridization