PURPOSE: Allelic loss on chromosome 18q is a hallmark of presence of a tummor represser gene. Recently, DPC4 (deleted in pancreatic carcinoma, locus 4), a candidate tumor suppressor gene, has been localized at 18q21. Inactivation of DPC4 gene was reported in pancreatic carcinomas, coloretal carcinomas, and prostatic carcinomas. The aim of the present study was to determine if it might be altered in stomach cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We tested for DPC4 gene mutations and allelic status at 18q21 using a modified 'cold SSCP' method in 48 primary gastric carcinoma and correlated the findings with various clinicopathologic characteristics of the patients. RESULTS: The frequency of mutations in primary gastric cancer was 27.1% (13/48). Mutations of exon 1, 8, 10 were found in 2 (4.1%), 4 (8.2%) and 7 cases (14.6%), respectively. DNA sequencing of 13 cases with DPC4 mutations identified six cases (46.1%) with substitution, four cases with deletion (30.7%), and two cases (23.1%) with insertion. No significant difference was observed in the frequency of DPC4 mutations in terms of other various clinicopathologic characteristics. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that DPC4 mutations may play a significant role in the establishment and progression of the primary gastric cancer.
Exons ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans* ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Stomach*

Gastric stump cancer is defined as cancers that develop in the gastric remnant after the gastric resection of nonmalignant lesions or malignant lesions. The interval between gastrectomy and the detection of gastric stump cancer must be over 5 years in nonmaligant lesions and 10 years in malignant lesions. Symptoms of gastric stump cancer are not specific, so, diagnosis is often delayed. Early detection and curative operation is very important in gasric stump cancer and follow-up endoscopic examination is the most importaint diagnostic tool to detect gastric stump cancer. Recently we experienced a case of early gastric stump cancer. We report review of the literature to remind the important of gastric stump cancer and the important of follow-up endoscopic examination.
Diagnosis ; Esophagus* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrectomy* ; Gastric Stump* ; Intestines* ; Stomach*

OBJECTIVES:Long standing observation, which may relate either to the causes or the effects of UC, reveals that there is a pronounced alteration of mucin such as quantitative and qualitative abnormalities of mucin glycoprotein. But recently in situ hybridization technique showed no specific difference in the expression of apomucin mRNA in UC. Therefore we investigated whether abnormality of mucin was originated from defect in glycosylation. And we also tried to find differences in the expression of Tn and sTn antigens between Korean and Jewish patients with UC. METHODS: We performed the immunohistochemical staining using the monoclonal antibody of mucin carbohydrate antigens Tn and sTn in 19 patients with UC. RESULTS: Tn and sTn antigens were not expressed throughout the crypt and surface epithelium in normal colon but both of mucin carbohydrates antigens were well expressed in mild UC, Tn antigen was seen in the surface epithelium with perinuclear pattern and sTn antigen was shown not only in surface but also in crypt epithelium. In severe UC, Tn antigen was well expressed, but sTn antigen was not expressed. Tn antigen seemed to be ex-pressed more frequently than sTn antigen with severity of inflammation. These results were similar in Korean and Jewish patients with UC. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that inflammatory bowel disease has some deterioration in the step of glycosylation in the cytoplasm and there was no racial difference in the expression of Tn and sTn antigen in Korean and Jewish patients with UC.
Carbohydrates ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Colon ; Cytoplasm ; Epithelium ; Glycoproteins ; Glycosylation ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Inflammation ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Mucins* ; RNA, Messenger ; Ulcer*