HISTOLOGY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY

Cellular and Molecular Biology

 

Review

The MUC gene family: Their role in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer

Shantibhusan Senapati1, Poonam Sharma2, Sangeeta Bafna1, Hemant K. Roy3 and Surinder K. Batra1

1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, 2Department of Pathology, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE and 3Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, IL, USA
Shantibhusan Senapati and Poonam Sharma contribuited equally to this work.

Offprint requests to: Surinder K. Batra, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 985870 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-5870, USA e-mail: sbatra@unmc.edu


Summary. Early diagnosis of gastric cancer and its differential diagnosis from other non-malignant gastric diseases like gastritis is still a major clinical problem. Most patients are asymptomatic in the early stages of gastric cancer, and there is no reliable marker available for the early and specific diagnosis of gastric cancer. Many attempts have been made to define the biological profile of gastric cancer to improve the chances of its early diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Several studies have shown the aberrant expression profile of mucins in different malignancies, suggesting that mucins have a great potential to be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in gastric cancer. In this review, we have briefly described the different types of gastric adenocarcinomas and the progression of gastric cancer. Furthermore, the role of mucins and their related carbohydrate epitope is discussed in the normal stomach and in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric adenocarcinomas. Histol Histopathol 23, 1541-1552 (2008)

Key words: Gastric cancer, Mucin, Diagnosis, Prognosis

DOI: 10.14670/HH-23.1541