Korean J Gastroenterol.  2005 Oct;46(4):291-296.

Expression of Hedgehog Proteins in Periampullary Cancer

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ktlee@smc.samsung.co.kr
  • 2Departments of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Departments of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 4Departments of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Hedgehog protein is an essential molecule for gastrointestinal tract development, and disruption of hedgehog signaling pathway is linked to some gastrointestinal tumorigenesis. Here, we performed hedgehog immunostaining in periampullary cancer to evaluate the differences according to the location type of cancer and the differentiation of adenocarcinoma. METHODS: We retrieved surgical specimens from 43 periampullary cancer patients (15 ampulla of Vater cancer, 12 distal common bile duct cancer, 13 pancreatic head cancer, and 3 combined ampulla of Vater/bile duct cancer). Immunohistochemical stain was performed in both normal and cancerous tissue portions of each case using Sonic hedgehog (H-160) rabbit polyclonal antibody. Immunohistochemical stain results were grouped into three groups according to the percentage of positive cytoplasmic stain in tumor volume (unstained: <5%, weakly stained: 5-50%, and strongly stained: >50%). RESULTS: All of the normal tissue revealed negative immunohistochemical stain while cancerous tissue revealed positivity in 95.3% (41/43 cases). Strongly stained cases were more frequently seen in ampulla of Vater cancers (13/15) and in combined ampulla of Vater/bile duct cancers (3/3) than in distal common bile duct cancers (4/12) and in pancreatic head cancers (3/13) (p=0.002). In addition, strongly stained cases were more frequently seen in well-differentiated adenocarcinoma than the others (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Most of the periampullary cancers show hedgehog protein expression. In addition, hedgehog protein immunostainings shows stronger expression in ampulla of Vater cancers and in well-differentiated adenocarcinoma.

Keyword

Hedgehog; Periampullary cancer

MeSH Terms

Adenocarcinoma/metabolism
Aged
*Ampulla of Vater
Common Bile Duct Neoplasms/*metabolism
English Abstract
Female
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Male
Middle Aged
Pancreatic Neoplasms/*metabolism
Trans-Activators/*metabolism
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