ENDOSCOPIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS WITH COMPLETE PATHOLOGICAL RESPONSE AFTER NEOADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY FOR GASTRIC AND ESOPHAGOGASTRIC JUNCTION ADENOCARCINOMAS.

Background: Gastric and esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma are responsible for approximately 13.5% of cancer-related deaths. Given the fact that these tumors are not typically detected until they are already in the advanced stages, neoadjuvancy plays a fundamental role in improving long-term survival.

Cadherin-catenin adhesion system and mucin expression: a comparison between young and older patients with gastric carcinoma.

Background: Young patients are thought to develop gastric carcinomas with a molecular genetic profile that is distinct from that of gastric carcinomas occurring at a later age. The aim of this study was to compare the clinicopathological features and expression patterns of the markers E-cadherin and beta-catenin, and mucins (MUC1, MUC2, MUC5AC, and MUC6) in young and older patients.

Methods: The clinicopathological features and overall survival data of 62 young patients (age 40 years).

Expression profile of malignant and nonmalignant lesions of esophagus and stomach: differential activity of functional modules related to inflammation and lipid metabolism.

Adenocarcinomas of stomach and esophagus are frequently associated with preceding inflammatory alterations of the normal mucosa. Whereas intestinal metaplasia of the gastric mucosa is associated with higher risk of malignization, Barrett's disease is a risk factor for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Barrett's disease is characterized by the substitution of the squamous mucosa of the esophagus by a columnar tissue classified histopathologically as intestinal metaplasia.

Molecular classifiers for gastric cancer and nonmalignant diseases of the gastric mucosa.

High incidence of gastric cancer-related death is mainly due to diagnosis at an advanced stage in addition to the lack of adequate neoadjuvant therapy. Hence, new tools aimed at early diagnosis would have a positive impact in the outcome of the disease. Using cDNA arrays having 376 genes either identified previously as altered in gastric tumors or known to be altered in human cancer, we determined expression signature of 99 tissue fragments representing normal gastric mucosa, gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and adenocarcinomas.