Expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor is associated with enhanced angiogenesis and advanced stage in gastric carcinomas

AIM: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was reported to inactivate p53 and play an essential role in the growth and angiogenesis of tumors that arise at sites of chronic inflammation. Gastric inflammation is a prerequisite for the development of gastric carcinoma (GC), which has recently been linked to Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection. This study aimed to investigate dinicopathological significance of MIF expression in GCs. METHODS: We selected 90 consecutive patients with GCs for investigation of the relation among MIF status, clinicopathological parameters, p53 expression and angiogenesis. MIF and p53 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry as positive and negative groups. Tumor vascularity was evaluated by counting microvessel density on anti-CD34 stained sections. Expression status of MIF was correlated with determined dinicopathological data, p53 immunoreactivity and microvessel counts. RESULTS: Strong immunostainings of MIF were observed in the cytoplasm of cancerous cells in 40% (36/90) of cases but not in normal or metaplastic epithelia. There was no statistically significant correlation between MIF expression and age, gender, H pylori infection, tumor location, histological subtypes, lymph node metastasis or p53 expression. Early GC less frequently overexpressed MIF as compared to advanced GCs (4/20 vs 32/70, P= 0.04). A remarkably increased microvessel count was noted in GCs with MIF expression than those without MIF expression (55.1±30.1 vs 31.3±28.8, P= 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that expression of MIF may contribute to the progression and enhanced angiogenesis in a substantial portion of GCs.