摘要
Objective: To characterize the relationship between STAT1 and Survivin expression, and the relationship between them and lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion and prognosis in full lymph node examined gastric cancer patients of China. Methods: Specimens of curative dissection between 1988 and 2003 were collected from the affiliated hospital of Jianghan University. All 140 patients had complete examination data. All lymph nodes were found by clearing fat method. The interrupted serial 4 μm sections, routine hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical methods were used to detect the lymph node metastases. Gastric cancer tissue microarray was formed and the expression of survivin and STAT1 in gastric cancer was detected by immunohistochemical method. All data were processed using Spearman rank correlation analysis, Kaplan-Meyer Log-rank method and Cox multivariate analysis (SPSS 12.0 software). Results: Among 140 gastric cancer tissue microarrays constructed, 110 could be used (utilization rate was 78.6%). 7079 lymph nodes were found in 110 cases (64.4/case). Metastases were found in 89 cases and 1679 lymph nodes. Positive expression rate of survivin and STAT1 was 52.7% (58/110) and 40% (44/110) respectively. There was a significant negative correlation between STAT1 expression and survivin expression (r=-0.19, P=0.04). STAT1 expression had a negative correlation with depth of invasion (r=0.21, P=0.04). Survivin expression had a negative correlation with UICC N stage (r=-0.24, P=0.01) and histological classification (r=-0.21, P=0.03) by Spearman rank correlation analysis. But survivin and STAT1 expression was not related with prognosis. A significant correlation between lymph node metastasis and prognosis was demonstrated by Cox multivariate analysis (X^2=4.85, P=0.028). Conclusion: STAT1 has a negative correlation with survivin expression in gastric cancer. Both of them have no correlation with prognosis in gastric cancer. STAT1 expression can be a molecular marker to predict advanced gastric cancer and survivin a molecular marker of lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer. UICC N stage is the most important prognostic factor in gastric caner in China.