Correlation between CD34 Marker and Clinico-Pathologic Characteristics of Gastric Cancer

Abstract

One of the most common cancers in the world, especially in underdeveloped countries, is Gastric Cancer (GC) which kills thousands of people annually. It is also prevalent in our country, Iran and according to statistics, it is the most common cancer in men. Since, the relationship between expression of CD34 cell surface markers and many cancers has been approved in the present study, the marker expression association with GC is studied. In this study, a total of 47 paraffin blocks of patients with GC referring to Imam Khomeini hospital in Ahvaz, during 2003-2013 were used. The mean age of 47 patients, including, 35 men (74.5%) and 12 women, was 60±16.05 years old ranging from 24-84. The mean tumor size was 34.5 ranging from 2-12 cm. More than 71% of tumors were intestinal type and the depth of more than 74% of them was in T3 phase. Incidence of marker was positive in only 8 patients (17%) and in rest 39 was negative. The CD34 expression was significantly correlated only with the tumor type (p = 0.00), degree of malignancy (p = 0.00) and neural invasion (p = 0.01). In this study, a positive correlation was observed between the marker expression and three factors of tumor type, degree of differentiation and neural invasion. It was also concluded that due to the negative CD34 expression in 83% of samples, the absence of positive CD34 cells in tumor tissue can be considered as a marker in GC, although it is recommended to do further research with more samples in this context.