Tetranectin expression in gastric adenocarcinomas

AIMS: The aim was to analyze the immunohistochemical localization of tetranectin in gastric adenocarcinomas and the adjacent tissues of the wall of the stomach. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty cases of gastric adenocarcinomas were stained by the indirect immunoperoxidase method. Of the ten cases of mucinous signet ring cell carcinomas 5 showed high, 3 moderate and 2 low tetranectin expression. Of the ten cases of well-differentiated intestinal type adenocarcinomas (ITA) 4 showed moderate regional, 3 low regional and 3 negative tetranectin expression. Of the ten cases of moderately-differentiated ITA 3 showed moderate regional, 4 low regional and 3 negative tetranectin expression. Of the ten cases of poorly-differentiated ITA 4 showed focal low and 6 negative tetranectin expression. Overall, the mucinous signet ring carcinomas showed significantly higher tetranectin expression compared to ITA (chi2 = 3.95, p<0.05). In contrast, no significant relationship was found between tetranectin expression and the degree of differentiation in ITA (chi2 = 2.5, p>0.05). In all cases, the perineoplastic desmoplastic reactive stroma showed high expression of tetranectin intra- and extracellularly. The mast cells and goblet cells in the areas of intestinal metaplasia showed high tetranectin expression. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that: a) tetranectin is produced and deposited extracellularly in the desmoplastic peritumoral stroma of infiltrating gastric adenocarcinomas; b) tetranectin is more highly expressed by the mucinous signet ring cell carcinomas compared to ITA; and c) the amount of tetranectin produced by the ITA is unrelated with the degree of tumor differentiation.