Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM: To evaluate the expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) in the oesophagitis-Barrett's oesophagus-oesophageal adenocarcinoma sequence compared with p53 and Ki67 expressions, retained for a long time reliable markers of oesophageal cells biological behaviour. METHODS: In Barrett's oesophagus, oesophagitis and oesophageal adenocarcinoma patients, biopsies were taken from pathologic sites of the mucosa for histological and immuno-histochemical detection of FAS, p53 and Ki67. FAS expression was positive, when a strong granular cytoplasmic staining was observed in oesophageal cells. Ki67 and p53 was defined positive, when nuclear staining was clearly detected at 10x magnification. RESULTS: A mild expression of FAS was found in 39% of patients with oesophagitis. The amount of FAS expression increased up to 70% in Barrett's oesophagus while this was present in all patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma (p = 0.0001). In Barrett's oesophagus, p53 was mildly or intensely expressed in 77% and in 15% of cases, respectively, and mildly or intensely expressed in 33% and 67% of patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma, respectively, (p = 0.0001). Ki67 was mildly expressed in 17% of oesophagitis cases and was absent in the majority of cases. In Barrett's oesophagus, a mild Ki67 expression was present in 46% of cases, and in oesophageal adenocarcinoma it was present prevalently in intense form (67%; p = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The over-expression of p53, Ki67 and FAS in otherwise similar morphological groups may be useful to stratify patients into selected prognostic subgroups in order to achieve better clinical approaches.