Objective To study the significance and expression of gelatinase A in human gastric cancers (GC). Method Gelatinase A expression in 36 cases of GC was examined by immunohistochemistry method. Results Expression of gelatinase A in GC (31/36) was much higher than that in paratumor tissues (7/18) or normal gastric tissues (2/14). There was no obvious correlation between the total gelatinase A staining and tumor size, Lauren typing . Intense expression of gelatinase A was freguently found in the advanced cancer, especially in GC with serosal invasion and lymph node metastasis, while expression of gelatinase A was not found in the early stage GC. Gelatinase A was shown to be expressed in the extracellur matrix of tumor tissues. The staining positive cells were mainly macrophages. Conclusions Gelatinase A expression could be used as a marker for evaluating the invasion and metastasis of GC. Macrophages may play an important role in this process.

Objective To investigate if the prognosis of young patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) is influenced by their familial predisposition. Methods The patients with CRC under 40 years old, underwent operation, had pathological diagnosis , family survey, followed up etc were selected into this research. According to familial predisposition they were divided into two groups: group A (with familial predisposition) and group B (without familial predisposition). Results Among the 44 patients twelve were in group A, thirty-two in group B. The 5-year survival rate in group A and B was 83.30%(10/12) and 59.38%(19/32) respectively,the difference was significant between the two groups(? 2=5.64,P