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Chromogranin‐a expression in gastric and colon cancer tissues
Author(s) -
Park JaeGahb,
Choe Ghee Young,
Helman Lee J.,
Gazdar Adi F.,
Yang HanKwang,
Kim JinPok,
Park Seong Hoe,
Kim Yong Il
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910510205
Subject(s) - chromogranin a , immunohistochemistry , pathology , adenocarcinoma , adenoma , cancer , monoclonal antibody , staining , biology , medicine , antibody , immunology
We studied the expression of chromogranin A (CgA) in human gastric (n = 17) and colorectal (n = 18) adenocarcinomas by nucleic acid hybridization and immunohistochemical analyses using a specific monoclonal antibody (MAb) to human chromogranin A (CgA). Some corresponding adjacent nonmalignant mucosal tissues were also examined. Results: (I) Northern blotting: of 3 normal gastric mucosas examined, 2 (67%) had an easily detected signal for expression of CgA. Only one of 14 gastric carcinomas (7%) and one of 18 colorectal carcinomas (6%) had easily detected RNA signals. (2) Immunohistochemical staining: all non‐malignant samples of gastric and colonic mucosa contained CgA‐positive neuroendocrine (NE) cells. Two of 17 (12%) gastric adenocarcinomas, and 3 of 18 (17%) of colorectal adenocarcinomas contained CgA‐positive tumor cells. Interestingly, the positive cases detected by immunohistochemistry included both cases detected by Northern blotting. Of the 5 cases detected by immunohistochemistry, 2 gastric cancers and I rectal carcinoma contained many diffusely scattered positive cells, occurring singly or in small clusters, while 2 colorectal carcinomas contained only occasional single CgA‐positive tumor cells. In one of the positive gastric cases, a well‐differentiated adenocarcinoma arising in a tubular adenoma, both the adenomatous and the carcinomatous elements contained positively staining cells. Our specific assays for CgA indicate that (I) a NE cell component, either diffusely scattered or occasional, occurs in about 15% of gastric and colorectal tumors; (2) there is no correlation between the presence of NE cells and degree of tumor differentiation; and (3) because only a minority of the tumor cells in positive cases stain for CgA, immunohistochemistry is a more sensitive method than Northern blotting.