Evaluation of c-Met, HGF, and HER-2 expressions in gastric carcinoma and their association with other clinicopathological factors.

BACKGROUND: Met and HER-2 are proto-oncogenes encoding receptor tyrosine kinase c-Met and HER-2, respectively. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a ligand of c-Met. The frequency of c-Met, HGF, and HER-2 expressions in gastric cancer and their association with other clinicopathological factors have not been fully understood.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with stage 1-4 disease were analyzed. Expressions of c-Met, HGF, and HER-2 were examined using immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS: A total of 143 patients, 97 males and 46 females, were included. C-Met scores were 3(+) in 31.5%, 2(+) in 27.3%, and 1(+) in 10.5% of the patients. There was no statistically significant difference in age, sex, tumor location, differentiation, Lauren classification, TNM staging, presence of distant metastasis, depth of tumor invasion (T), lymphovascular invasion, and survival between c-Met subgroups. Overall HGF positivity was 20.6%. HER-2 scores were 3(+) in 9.1%, 2(+) in 9.8%, and 1(+) in 16.1% of the patients. HER-2 overexpression was associated with better differentiation, intestinal subtype, and advanced stage. C-Met overexpressions were 84.6% in the HER-2-overexpression-positive group and 56.2% in the HER-2-overexpression-negative group. There were no statistically significant differences in survival between the high c-Met-expression-positive and -negative stage 3 and stage 4 patients and between the HGF-positive and -negative groups. The mean survival was 11.6±6.3 months in the HER-2-overexpression-positive stage 4 group and 11.9±6.8 months in the HER-2-overexpression-negative stage 4 group. There were no statistically significant differences in survival between the two groups.

CONCLUSION: c-Met was not associated with any prognostic factors in gastric cancer. HER-2 was associated with better differentiation, intestinal subtype, advanced stage, and c-Met overexpression.