Relationship between Epstein-Barr virus and overexpression of c-Met protein in gastric carcinoma

Abstract

AIM: To detect the amplification and expression of c-Met in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC) and EBV-negative gastric carcinoma (EBVnGC), and to investigate the relationshi pof the amplification and expression of c-Met with EBV infection in the process of gastric carcinogenesis. METHODS: The amplification of c-Met gene and the expression of c-Met protein in the tissues of EBVaGC (n = 13) and EBVnGC (n = 45) were detected by semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemical methods, respectively. RESULTS: The amplification of c-Met was observed in both EBVaGC and EBVnGC. The overamplification rates were 53.8% (7/13) in EBVaGC and 44.4% (20/45) in EBVnGC. There was no significant difference between the two types of caners. c-Met protein was positive in 76.9% (10/13) EBVaGC, and 64.4% (29/45) EBVnGC tissues. The difference between them was not significant either. The overexpression rate of c-Met protein in EBVaGC was significantly higher than that in EBVnGC (69.2% vs 37.8%, P = 0.0 446). No significant correlation was observed between the amplification and expression of c-Met with the tumor size, location, lymph node metastasis, differentiation degree or clinical staging. CONCLUSION: c-Met is amplified in both EBVaGC and EBVnGC tissues. The amplification level of c-Met gene and the positive rate of c-Met protein are not significantly different between EBVaGC and EBVnGC. However, the overexpression rate of c-Met protein in EBVaGC is higher than that in EBVnGC.