Cancer-stromal interaction through growth factor/cytokine networks implicated in growth of stomach cancer.

Stomach cancer shows multiple gene changes, including both oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Among them, the one most frequently implicated in stomach cancer is the abnormal expression and amplification of the c-met gene. Moreover, stomach cancer cells express a broad spectrum of growth factors and cytokines that not only serve autocrine or paracrine growth of tumor cells, but also organize the complex networks between tumor cells and stromal cells. However, the scenario of cancer-stromal interaction differs depending on the two histological types-the well-differentiated or intestinal type and the poorly-differentiated or diffuse type-as the two types of stomach cancer may have different genetic pathways. The interaction between cell-adhesion molecules in the c-met overexpressed tumor cells and HGF from activated fibroblast may be involved in the progression and the morphogenesis of stomach cancer.