대한대장항문학회

Purpose: Gastrin, a peptide hormone produced by the G cells of the gastric antrum, plays a major role in regulating acid secretion in the stomach, and acts as a trophic factor in the gastrointestinal tract. The relationship between gastrin and<br>the<br>development of colorectal cancer remains controversial. To study its possible role in development or proliferation of colorectal cancer, we evaluated the expression of gastrin and gastrin/CCK-B receptor mRNA in cancer and normal tissue from<br>colorectal<br>cancer patients. We also reviewed clinical records to evaluate the correlations between gastrin receptor expression and clinical characteristics of colorectal cancer.<br>Methods: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to evaluate mRNA expression for gastrin and gastrin/CCK-B receptor in 26 surgical specimens of colorectal cancer.<br>Results: The mRNA expression of gastrin was detected in 24 out of 26 cancer specimens and 9 out of 26 normal colon specimens (p＜0.05). The mRNA expression of gastrin/ CCK-B receptor was detected in 18 out of 26 cancer specimens and 17 out of 26<br>normal<br>colon specimens (p＞0.05). There was no significant correlation between gastrin receptor expression and clinical characteristics of colorectal cancer.<br>Conclusions: The gastrin gene products might be more important than gastrin/CCK-B receptor in development<br>or proliferation of colorectal cancer, which supports the hypothesis that gastrin gene products play a role in proliferation of colorectal cancer as an autocrine factor.<br>