Kurashige Junji, Sawada Genta, Takahashi Yusuke, Eguchi Hidetoshi, Sudo Tomoya, Ikegami Toru, Yoshizumi Tomoharu, Soejima Yuji, Ikeda Tetsuo, Kawanaka Hirofumi, Uchiyama Hideaki, Yamashita Yo-Ichi, Morita Masaru, Oki Eiji, Saeki Hiroshi, Sugimachi Keishi, Watanabe Masayuki, Mori Masaki, Baba Hideo, Mimori Koshi
Department of Surgery, Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, 4546 Tsurumihara, Beppu, Oita 874-0838, Japan.
Department of Surgery and Science, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
Fukuoka Igaku Zasshi. 2013 Oct;104(10):344-9.
The Myelin and lymphocyte-associated protein gene (MAL), which is located on the long arm of chromosome 2, assigned to the region cen-q13 in humans, has been reported as tumor suppressor in several cancers. The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical significance of MAL gene in gastric cancer.
The expression levels of MAL mRNA was examined using 50 resected gastric cancer specimens used by laser microdissected to determine the clinicopathological significance. MAL expression was then examined by real-time quantitative PCR assay, and we analyzed the correlation between MAL expression and clinicopathological factors.
In clinicopathologic analysis, the low MAL expression group showed significantly higher incidence of lymph node metastasis than the high expression group (79% and 46%, respectively, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the low MAL expression group had a significantly poorer prognosis than the high expression group (p < 0.05).
The MAL gene repression related with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in gastric cancer, suggesting that the MAL may be a new candidate node metastasis-suppressor gene for gastric cancer.
髓鞘与淋巴细胞相关蛋白基因（MAL）位于2号染色体长臂，在人类中定位于cen-q13区域，已有报道称其在多种癌症中为肿瘤抑制基因。本研究旨在阐明MAL基因在胃癌中的临床意义。
使用50例经激光显微切割的胃癌切除标本检测MAL mRNA的表达水平，以确定其临床病理意义。随后通过实时定量PCR检测MAL表达，并分析MAL表达与临床病理因素之间的相关性。
在临床病理分析中，低MAL表达组的淋巴结转移发生率显著高于高表达组（分别为79%和46%，p<0.05）。此外，低MAL表达组的预后明显比高表达组差（p<0.05）。
MAL基因抑制与胃癌的淋巴结转移及预后不良相关，提示MAL可能是胃癌新的淋巴结转移抑制基因候选者。
