Role of Serum Hepatocyte Growth Factor in Gastric Cancer Patients

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was first identified as a potent stimulator of hepatocyte growth. Later, it was shown that HGF can promote cell motility and cell proliferation in tumor cells as well as in endothelial cells. To look for the significance of HGF in patients with gastric cancer, we measured the serum levels of HGF in gastric cancer patients and followed the levels of HGF after resection of the tumors. METHODS: The serum levels of HGF were determined by using an Immunis HGF ELISA kit. The serum levels of CEA, CA125, and CA19-9 in the same serum sample were examined using the ELISA method. RESULTS: The mean levels of serum HGF in 212 healthy control subjects, 105 patients with primary gastric cancer, 54 patients after resections of the tumors, and 13 patients with recurrent gastric cancer were 0.20 +/- 0.07 ng/ml, 0.33 +/- 0.26 ng/ml, 0.20 +/- 0.19 ng/ml, and 0.58 +/- 0.26 ng/ml respectively. Of the 105 patients with primary gastric cancer, 35 (33.3%) showed an abnormal increase in the serum level of HGF. The increased HGF levels were significantly associated with the degree of tumor invasion, nodal metastasis, distant metastasis and stage. Also the HGF levels increased significantly with increasing tumor size. The HGF levels decreased to normal levels by one month after the resections of the tumors. The HGF levels in recurrent gastric cancer patients were significantly higher than those of nonrecurrent patients after resections of the tumors. Among several tumor markers including CEA, CA125, and CA19-9, HGF was revealed to be the one most correlated with the occurrence of gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: The serum levels of HGF were significantly correlated with the aggressiveness of the tumors, suggesting that HGF might play an important role in the tumor progression of gastric cancer. Furthermore, serum HGF levels should be studied as a tumor marker in patients with gastric cancer.