Evaluation of cell cycle protein expression in gastric cancer: cyclin B1 expression and its prognostic implication

The cell cycle progression is regulated by interactions of specific cyclin-dependent kinases at the G1-S and G2-M checkpoints. In addition, the cell cycle dysregulation plays a major role in carcinogenesis of human cancers. To investigate the role of cell cycle regulators in the pathogenesis and progression of human gastric cancer, the expression of cyclin D1, A, B1, p16(INK4a), p21(CPI1), p27(KIP1), p53, and pRb was investigated in 482 gastric carcinomas using immunohistochemistry in terms of histologic type, tumor invasion, size, location, and metastatic behavior. The cyclin D1, A, and B1 expression (>10%) was observed in 49%, 69%, and 49% of the cases, respectively. Negative cases for p16(INK4a), p21(CPI1), and p27(KIP1) were detected in 90%, 86%, and 50.5%. There were 30% and 68% of the gastric tumors positive for p53 and pRb, respectively. Diffuse carcinomas frequently were positive for cyclin B1 and pRb, and negative for p21. A relationship between p53 expression and intestinal type carcinomas was found. In addition, the expression of cyclin B1 was associated with regional lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis. No relationship was noticed between any other cell cycle proteins expression and age, sex, tumor size, tumor location, and lymph node involvement. These findings have shown alterations in several cell cycle regulators, and it was suggested that cyclin B1 expression is closely associated with poor behavior in gastric cancer.