Tissue microarray analysis of topoisomerase IIalpha protein in gastric adenocarcinomas: histogenetic and prognostic implications.

UNLABELLED The aim of this study was to: To investigate topoisomerase IIα (topo-IIα) expression and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters in primary gastric cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS A tissue microarray including tumor, paired non-tumoral and lymph node metastasis specimens from 210 gastric adenocarcinoma patients was built for immunohistochemical interrogation. The correlation between topo-IIα expression and patient clinicopathological parameters was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS High topo-IIα expression was observed in 30.00% (63/210) of the primary tumors, 25.27% (23/91) of the lymph node metastases and 0.47% (1/210) of the non-tumoral gastric mucosa (p<0.001). Topo-IIα expression in the gastric adenocarcinoma was positively correlated with tumor location (gastric cardia, p<0.001), intestinal histological type (p=0.041), late age onset of gastric adenocarcinoma (≥50 years; p=0.002) and male gender (p=0.038). There was no association with other clinicopathological parameters. No correlation was observed between topo-IIα expression and survival. CONCLUSION The prognostic value of topo-IIα in gastric adenocarcinoma remains underdetermined.