Decreased expression of the metastasis suppressor gene KAI1 in gastric cancer

KAI1 was immunohistochemically detected in the lower part of fundic glands and intestinal metaplasia in non-cancerous gastric tissues, while only 11.0% (8/73) of cancerous tissues were shown to be positive. The relationship between various clinicopathological characteristics of patients with gastric cancer and KAI1 expression in their tumors was then analyzed to reveal that the incidence of positivity was 16.6% (8/48) of patients with stage Ia–IIIa and 0% (0/25) of patients with stage IIIb–IVb (P<0.05) and that the incidence of peritoneal or hepatic metastasis tended to be lower in KAI1-positive tumors than in negative ones. These results suggest that decreased KAI1 expression may be related to the progression of gastric cancer.