Immunohistochemical Examination of Gastrin, Gastrin Precursors, and Gastrin/CCK-2 Receptor in Human Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Abstract

A promoting effect of gastrin on stimulating Barrett's oesophagus proliferation has been demonstrated, but whether it plays a regulating role for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) to date has not been fully investigated. The aim of this study is to examine the expressions of gastrin, gastrin precursors and gastrin/CCK-2 receptor in ESCC. Tissue specimen sections from 38 patients with ESSC obtained from a high incidence area of north China were assessed using immunohistochemistry for amidated gastrin, gastrin precursors (progastrin and glycine-extended gastrin) and gastrin/CCK-2 receptors. Their clinical histopathological significance was also analyzed. Of 38 ESCC, the immunoreactivities of gastrin, glycine-extended gastrin and progastrin were observed in 13.2% (5/38), 7.9% (3/38) and 23.68% (9/38) cases. The expression of progastrin was obviously higher than other gastrins, though not significantly (P > 0.05). In positive cases for gastrin or glycine-extended gastrin, the scores of positive tumor cell numbers were at a lower density (<10/abundant-distributed field). However, the scores of progastrin positive tumor cell density in five of nine positive cases were over 10/abundant-distributed field. The immunoreactivity of gastrin/CCK-2 receptor was also observed in 15.8% (6/38) ESCC cases. There was not significant correlation regarding immunohistochemical results with known histomorphological parameters i.e. gender, tumor location and TNM stages. Based on our current results, ESCC tumor cells could be a possible cellular source of gastrin precursors, which has been postulated to play a role in regulating the growth in some human tumor cells.

Assessment of cholecystokinin 2 receptor (CCK2R) in neoplastic tissue

“…However, this study did not detect any overarching correlation with patient data. These results are, in fact, consistent with other CCK2R studies, where no significant relationship has been found between CCK2R expression and lymph node involvement, metastatic disease, overall survival, patient age or sex [ 2 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 14 , 37 ].…”

Localization of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in human esophageal squamous cell carcinomas

“…Immunohistochemical examination of IDO and tumor-associated lymphocyte expression in the tumor microenvironment Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed in 4-μm sections with Vectastatin Elite Universal ABC-HRP kits (Vector Lab., Burlingame, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions and our published methods [23,24]. Antigen retrieval was achieved by incubating the Number Tumor invasion Lymph node involvement Metastasis TNM stages T1 T2 T3 N0 N1 M0 M1 I II III ESCC 45 1 9 35 35 10 45 0 1 34 10 Table 1 Basic clinicopathological information of ESCC patients Fig.…”

Cholecystokinin Expression in Tumors: Biogenetic and Diagnostic Implications

“…It is therefore possible that many tissues and organs stimulated by pentagastrin are stimulated also by CCK. Consequently, CCK peptides may contribute to the carcinogenesis of esophageal, gastric, colorectal and, for instance, medullary thyroid carcinomas [14,43,45,[76][77][78][79][80]. This hypothesis deserves an evaluation in view of the frequency of pancreatic and gastrointestinal carcinomas.…”