[Malignancy of gastric cancer analyzed by the expression of thymidine phosphorylase]

In this study, the expression of thymidine phophorylase (dThdPase) was investigated immunohistochemically in 73 patients with gastric cancer. dThd Pase was mainly distributed at the apical portion, or cytoplasm of cancer cells and its expression was detected in 52 tumors (71.2%). There were no significant association among the expression of dThdPase, histologic type, depth of invasion, and lymph node metastasis. However, a significant difference was noted with respect to liver metastases. Among 73 patients, liver metastases were observed in 11 patients. dThdPase expression was detected in all of these cases with liver metastases, which was significantly more common than those without such metastases. In relation to the prognosis, patients with dThdPase-positive tumors had a significantly worse prognosis than those with dThdPase-negative tumors. In conclusion, the expression of dThdPase may be useful as a predictor of malignant potential in gastric cancer.