Expression of carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1(CEACAM1) and its correlation with angiogenesis in gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the expression of carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1(CEACAM1) and CD34 in gastric adenocarcinoma, and to investigate their relations with clinical pathology-related factors.

METHODS

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to analyze the expression of CEACAM1 and CD34, and micro-vessel density (MVD) marked by CD34 was calculated in 208 cases of human gastric adenocarcinoma and in 56 cases of normal human gastric tissues.

RESULTS

There was no expression of CEACAM1 in normal gastric mucosa. However, all of the gastric adenocarcinoma tissues expressed CEACAM1 with cytoplasmic and/or membranous staining. CEACAM1 expression was classified as high and low (137/208 vs. 71/208, 65.9% vs. 34.1%), the CD34-MVD value was significantly different between the two groups (P<0.05). In addition, expressions of CEACAM1 and CD34 were significantly different from gastric adenocarcinoma to normal gastric tissues, respectively (P<0.05). High CEACAM1 expression and high MVD value were positively associated with lymph nodes metastasis and TNM stage, but negatively related to pathological grade (P<0.05). But they were irrelevant with tumor size, patients' age and gender (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The up-regulation of CEACAM1 expression may participate in tumorous angiogenesis, especially high expression of CEACAM1 promoted its capability of invasion and metastasis.