摘要：

Malignant cells in culture express elevated levels of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) mRNA and secrete an abundant amount of the TGF-beta1 protein. An attempt was made to define the role of the TGF-beta1 secreted from tumor cells, as a possible humoral factor which functions in a paracrine manner to stimulate the production of collagen and angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma. The expression of the TGF-beta1 by immunohistochemical stain (n=70) in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues was studied. Angiogenesis was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining of tumor vessels, using polyclonal antibody to factor VIII related antigen and counting the three most active areas of neovascularization. The extracellular matrix was counted as area density by using an image analyzer following Masson-Trichrome staining. The prominent reactivity for TGF-beta1 was associated with invasion depth (r=0.2, p<0.05), increased number of microvessel (r=0.49, p<0.05) and increased area density of extracellular matrix (r=0.36, p<0.05), respectively. In summary, TGF-beta1 may have a role in tumor invasion and metastasis by increased angiogenesis and deposits of extracellular matrix.

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