Gastric Cancer
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2003. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 15, 2003; 9(7): 1398-1403
Published online Jul 15, 2003. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v9.i7.1398
Carbonic anhydrase isozymes IX and XII in gastric tumors
Mari Leppilampi, Juha Saarnio, Tuomo J. Karttunen, Jyrki Kivelä, Silvia Pastoreková, Jaromir Pastorek, Abdul Waheed, William S. Sly, Seppo Parkkila
Mari Leppilampi, Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Juha Saarnio, Department of Surgery, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Tuomo J. Karttunen, Department of Pathology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Jyrki Kivelä, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Research Institute of Military Medicine, Central Military Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
Silvia Pastoreková, Jaromir Pastorek, Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Abdul Waheed, William S. Sly, Edward A. Doisy Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Seppo Parkkila, Departments of Clinical Chemistry and Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. Institute of Medical Technology, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the grants from Sigrid Juselius Foundation, from Finnish Cultural Foundation and Finnish Dental Society, from the National Institutes of Health (DK40163, GM34182, and GM53405), from Slovak Grant Agency (2/7152/20), and from Bayer Corporation
Correspondence to: Mari Leppilampi, M.Sc, Department of Clinical Chemistry, P.O.Box 5000, FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Finland. mari.leppilampi@oulu.fi
Telephone: +358-40-5164790 Fax: +358-8-3154494
Received: March 19, 2003
Revised: March 24, 2003
Accepted: April 3, 2003
Published online: July 15, 2003
Abstract

AIM: To systematically study the expression of carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozymes IX and XII in gastric tumors.

METHODS: We analyzed a representative series of specimens from non-neoplastic gastric mucosa and from various dysplastic and neoplastic gastric lesions for the expression of CA IX and XII. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using isozyme-specific antibodies and biotin-streptavidin complex method.

RESULTS: CA IX was highly expressed in the normal gastric mucosa and remained positive in many gastric tumors. In adenomas, CA IX expression significantly decreased towards the high grade dysplasia. However, the expression resumed back to the normal level in well differentiated adenocarcinomas, while it again declined in carcinomas with less differentiation. In comparison, CA XII showed no or weak immunoreaction in the normal gastric mucosa and was slightly increased in tumors.

CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that CA IX expression is sustained in several types of gastric tumors. The variations observed in the CA IX levels support the concept that gastric adenomas and carcinomas are distinct entities and do not represent progressive steps of a single pathway.

Keywords: $[Keywords]