Background: CXCR4 and RKIP have been implicated in initiation and
progression in many cancers, but their role in gastric adenocarcinoma
remains vague. Aim: The aim of this work is to assess the possible
significance of both markers in gastric adenocarcinoma and
premalignant lesions of the stomach. Methods: This retrospective
study was carried upon 50 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma and 20 of
premalignant lesions. Immunohistochemistry was performed to
examine the expression of CXCR4 and RKIP in both gastric
adenocarcinoma and premalignant lesions of the stomach. Results:
CXCR4 was found to be highly expressed in gastric adenocarcinoma
compared to premalignant lesions (P value=0.027). It was significantly
correlated with tumor grade (P value=0.027), depth of tumor invasion
(P value=0.019), lymph node metastasis (P value=0.025), distant
metastasis (P value=0.044) and TNM stage (P value=0.002). No
statistically significant correlation between CXCR4 expression and
histopathological types (P value=0.8). RKIP expression has no
significant correlation with progression from premalignant gastric lesions to adenocarcinoma (P
value=0.078). RKIP was negatively associated with advanced tumor grade (P value=0.001), depth
of invasion (P value=0.018), distant metastasis (P value=0.029) and TNM stage (P value=0.007).
No statistically significant correlation between RKIP expression and histopathological types (P
value=0.17) and lymph node status (P value=0.053). No significant correlation between CXCR4
and RKIP expression in studied cases was detected (P value=0.178). Conclusions: These results
suggested that CXCR4 might be involved in gastric carcinogenesis