Determination of the relationship between expression of cytokeratin 20 and cytokeratin 7 with prognostic factors in the adenocarcinoma of the stomach

Background and Objective: One important step in the management of gastric cancer is determination of its prognosis. Cytokeratins are intermediate filaments that mainly exist in cytoskeletal component of epithelial cells. Recent researches have focused on the relationship between the expression of different cytokeratins with differentiation and outcomes of tumors. This study was done for determination of the relationship between expression of cytokeratin 20 and cytokeratin 7 with prognostic factors in the adenocarcinoma of the stomach.

Materials and methods: The study was a cross-sectional one. In this research, 31 archival samples of gastric adenocarcinoma with different histopathologic differentiation were immunohistochemically examined for analyzing the expression of cytokeratin 20 and cytokeratin 7. The relationship between cytokeratin 20 and cytokeratin 7 expression with prognostic factors including histopathologic differentiation, lymph node involvement and depth of invasion were assessed .Obtained data were analyzed by Chi-square and Spearman statistical tests.

Results: A negative correlation between cytokeratin 20 and cytokeratin 7 expressions with histopathologic differentiation and lymph node involvement was observed. There was a significant correlation between cytokeratin 7 expressions and tumor thickness .The correlation between cytokeratin 20 expression and tumor thickness was not significant.

Conclusion: Expression of cytokeratin 20 and cytokeratin7 was negatively related to histopathologic differentiation and lymph node involvement.