Autoantibodies in the Serum of Patients with Gastric Cancer: Their Prognostic Importance

To evaluate the presence in serum and the clinical relevance of several antinuclear autoantibodies, we investigated 31 patients with initially diagnosed gastric cancer and 40 age-matched healthy controls. Autoantibodies against ssDNA, dsDNA, cardiolipin, actin, myosin, tropomyosin, GM₁, GD_1b and GT₃ gangliosides, were detected with an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Anti-ssDNA, anti-actin, anti-GM₁ and anti-GD_1b antibodies were detected in the serum of 11 (p = 0.001), 8 (p = 0.02), 11 (p = 0.001), and 9 (p = 0.008) patients with gastric cancer, respectively. There was no significant difference between patients with cancer and the control group, as far as the other autoantibodies were concerned. Most of the patients (90%) had autoantibodies against at least one of the antigens examined. Patients with anti-ssDNA, anti-actin, anti-GM1 and antiGD_1b antibodies were less likely to survive than the patients being negative to the above autoantibodies: the figures are 1 of 11 (9%) compared with 4 of 20 (20%); 1 of 8 (13%) compared with 5 of 23 (22%); 1 of 11 (9%) compared with 4 of 20 (20%); and 1 of 9 (11%) compared with 4 of 22 (18%), respectively. Our findings suggest that 4 of the 9 autoantibodies that we assayed are significantly more likely to be found in serum of patients with gastric cancer, indicating that the immune system has a role in the process of the malignant disease. If our results are confirmed by forthcoming studies, some of the immunological variables that we examined could be used as markers of prognostic value in patients with gastric cancer.