Soybean agglutinin binding as a useful prognostic indicator in stomach cancer.

Soybean agglutinin (SBA)-binding carbohydrate expression was studied immunohistochemically in 353 primary gastric carcinomas. The overall rate of positive SBA staining was 23% (81/353), and positive SBA staining was significantly correlated with tumor size, macroscopic tumor type, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and venous invasion (P < 0.05). Moreover, patients with tumors that were immunoreactive for SBA demonstrated significantly higher survival (P < 0.01). From these findings we conclude that careful follow-up and intense postoperative therapy are required for patients with gastric cancers that lack immunoreactivity for SBA.