1993 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 205-208,169
Sialyl-TN anigen (STN; NeuAc 2→6GalNac α 1-o-Ser/Thr)is a mucin-associated antigen expressed by some neoplasms. In this study, STN expression was investigated immunohistochemically in 152 patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative surgical resection. STN expression was detected in 74 of the tumors (48.7%). There was no significant relationship between STN positivity and histologic type. However, STN positivity was significantly higher in patients with lymph node metastasis than that in those without metastasis (P<0.01). In addition, STN positivity increased as tumor invasion became deeper and the STN-positive rate also became higher as the histologic stage increased.
Furthermore, patients with STN-positive tumors had a significantly poorer prognosis than those with STN-negative tumors (p<0.01).
Our findings suggest that STN expression is related to the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and stage of gastric carcinoma and that it may be a useful prognostic factor.
