Vol. 25, No. 4, 2003 (December)
	Content

IS THE E-CADHERIN DOWNREGULATION OBSERVED IN HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION ASSOCIATED WITH GASTRIC CANCER DEVELOPMENT? AN ADDITIONAL ELEMENT IN THE DISEASE JIGSAW

K. Charalabopoulos^1,2,*, V. Papalimneou^1,2,3, A. Evangelou¹, V. Kalfakakou¹, D. Kiortsis¹, E. Kolettas¹, J. Alamanos⁴ , A. Charalabopoulos¹, N.J. Agnantis⁵

¹Department of Physiology, Clinical Unit, Medical Faculty, University of Ioannina, Greece
²Department of Medicine, Red Cross Hospital, Athens, Greece
³Larissa State Hospital, Larissa, Greece
⁴Department of Epidemiology-Statistics, Medical Faculty, University of Ioannina, Greece
⁵Department of Pathology, Medical Faculty, University of Ioannina, Greece

Abstract. Aim: to investigate possible association of E-cad expression and Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection with gastrointestinal malignancy. Methods: E-cad expression was studied immunohistochemically in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms undergoing gastroduodenoscopy. Results: findings showed an association of E-cad expression with HP presence in the individuals examined. E-cad was significantly downregulated in the group of patients infected by HP. Conclusion: we conclude that downregulation of E-cad expression upon HP infection may consist an early step in the gastric cancer development, facilitating gastric epithelial cell proliferation, motility, and tumor spread.

Key Words: Helicobacter pylori, gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, gastric cancer, MALT lymphoma, E-cadherin, adhesion molecules.

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