Abstract. Expression of sialyl-Lewisx (sLex) antigen was studied immunohistochemically in 110 resected human gastric carcinomas using an anti-sLex monoclonal antibody. Lymph node, liver, and peritoneal metastases were clearly more prevalent in tumors expressing high levels of sLex than in those with no or low-level sLex expression. No correlation was found between sLex expression and histologic grade or histologic type of the Lauren classification. Among the tumors with lymph node metastasis, 44% expressed high levels of sLex in both the primary tumor and involved lymph nodes, and 14% of the metastatic lesions demonstrated increased sLex expression. The 5-year survival rate of the patients undergoing complete (R0) gastric resections was 60% in the sLex high-expression group, which was significantly lower than that of the sLex low-expression group (81%) and of the no-expression group (87%) (
p < 0.05). These results suggest that high-level sLe x expression is related to both an increased risk of metastasis and poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Use our pre-submission checklist
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ura, H., Denno, R., Hirata, K. et al. Close Correlation between Increased Sialyl-Lewisx Expression and Metastasis in Human Gastric Carcinoma. World J. Surg. 21, 773–776 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002689900304
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002689900304