Correlation between expression of sialosyl-T antigen and survival in patients with gastric cancer.

Intestinal metaplasia of the gastric mucosa is an important lesion in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. The expression of a mucin-associated antigen, sialosyl-T antigen, in the tissue of gastric cancer was investigated immunohistochemically to assess its biological role. Sialosyl-T antigen, detected by the monoclonal antibody TKH2, was present in 30 (23.6 per cent) of 127 lesions, and expressed sporadically in intestinal metaplasia. Patients negative for sialosyl-T had a significantly better 5-year survival than those who were positive (70.4 per cent versus 47.2 per cent). Grading by sialosyl-T antigen expression and the DNA ploidy pattern had a predictive value for prognosis in patients with gastric cancer. The biological role of sialosyl-T antigen is not clear but the mucin alteration reflects upon the biological behaviour of gastric cancer.