Mucin Profile Expression in Gastric Adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: The process of neoplastic transformation in the stomach has been reported to be associated with decreased expression of normal mucins of the gastric mucosa and denovo expression of mucins that are normally expressed in other organs. This association may be used as a means to bring new insights into biologic behavior and genetic pathways in the development of gastric cancer. There are controversial reports about differences in the genetic pathway and behavior of gastric cancer in younger patients in comparison with older ones. This study aims to determine if there is any difference in mucin profiles between different age groups with gastric cancer. METHODS: Over a five-year (2003-2008) period, 43 cases of gastric cancer (≤50) years were referred to our center. Of these, 40 had adequate tissue for additional study, whereas three cases lacked a sufficient amount of tumor tissue for immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. A group of 40 gastric cancer patients above the age of 50 years were gender-matched with the first group. Expressions of MUC-1, MUC-2, MUC-5AC, and MUC-6 were evaluated by IHC for the total 80 gastric cancer cases. RESULTS: The expressions of the mucins did not show a significant difference between the two age groups. CONCLUSION: Gastric cancer in both young and old age adults was not significantly different in terms of mucin profiles. Our results have shown that younger age is not predictive of gastric cancer phenotype, which can be an indicator of the lack of difference in the genetic pathways and molecular alterations in these two age groups.