• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• v.5 no.3 s.19
• /
• pp.158-162
• /
• 2005

Purpose: In order to clarify the carcinogenesis mechanism from chronic atrophic gastritis toward gastric cancer, we measured the pepsinogen I and II and compared their ratio with several clinical findings. Materials and Methods: We measured the preoperative serum pepsinogen I and II by using a radio-immunoassay and compared their ratio with several clinical findings, such as tumor size, mucinous vs non-mucinous tumor, cell differentiation, tumor location, depth of invasion, lymph-node status, Lauren's classification, and peritumoral atrophy in 103 consecutive patients with gastric adenocarcinomas who had received resections at Bundang CHA Hospital during the period from July 2003 to February 2005. Results: There were significant differences in the serum pepsinogen I/II ratio between patients with mucinous vs non-mucinous tumors (n=4 vs 9 and mean pep I/II=1.29 vs. 2.99, p=0.0288), with tumor size more than and less than $10cm^2$ (n=55 vs. 48 and mean pep I/II=2.64 vs. 3.24, p=0.0491), and with or without peritumoral atrophy (n=94 vs. 9 and mean pep I/II=2.83 vs. 3.89, p=0.0466). In patients with peritomoral atrophy, the pepsinogen I/II ratio was also lower in larger tumors (n=48 vs. 46 and mean pep I/II=2.44 vs. 3.23, p=0.0083). Well-differentiated carcinomas showed significantly lower serum pep I/II ratios than signet-ring-ceil types. There was no correlation between serum pep I/II ratio and tumor location, depth of invasion, lymph-node status, or Lauren's classification Conclusion: We proved the existence of a correlation between serum pepsinogen level and musosal atrophy, but these results are not sufficient for clinical application of serum pepsinogen level as a screening tool for gastric cancer.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.78-87
• /
• 2009

Serum pepsinogen (sPG) is a marker of gastric mucosal atrophy, a condition that has been associated with an increased risk of gastric neoplasia. A low sPGI level and a low PG I/II ratio have been associated with severe gastric atrophy, and are frequently found in gastric cancer. Because the prevalence of gastric cancer is high in Korea, it would be convenient if a good biomarker for gastric cancer were developed. Two studies recently investigated the efficacy of sPG along with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) as a screening tool for gastric cancer. In these studies, sPG was measured using a Latex enhanced Turbidimetric Immunoassay. We found that H. pylori IgG status, age and gender were associated with serum pepsinogen levels. Thus, to increase the ability of the PG I/II ratio to detect atrophic gastritis, the cutoff value for the PG I/II ratio should be stratified according to the H. pylori IgG status. In addition, a PG I/II ratio ($\leq3.0$), which has been widely used as an international standard for gastric cancer, was found to be a reliable marker for the detection of gastric dysplasia or gastric cancer, especially of the intestinal type. The efficacy of the test in Korea was lower than the efficacy in Japan. However, the detecting power of a PG I/II ratio ($\leq3.0$) was significantly increased in the presence of H. pylori. The ratio together with H. pylori psotivitiy could provide a means of identifying persons at high risk of developing gastric cancer in Korea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.527-532
• /
• 1992

The present paper describes temporal changes of immunohistochemical localization and quantities of carbonic anhydrase isozyme II (CA-II) prochymosin (PC) and pepsinogen (PN) in goat's abomasal mucosae during long term milk feeding. The CA-II was not detected by day 14 after birth and then became positive on day 34 in the parietal cells, suggesting that the excretion of the hydrochloric acid (HCl) begins between days 14 and 34 under a feeding condition without solid materials. The quantity of the PC in the gastric chief cells detected by the ELISA showed rapid increase from the day of birth, making a peak on day 8 and then gradually decreased with age. The decrease in quantity of PC became started during the time period when HCl excretion had not started yet. The quantities of PN in the gastric chief cells were almost stable during the whole period examined. Expressions of these gastric enzymes did not seem to be regulated by the change of feeding condition.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.281-287
• /
• 2014

Objectives: In Fujian Province, China, gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among all malignant tumors. Nanjing county and Minqing county are located in inland Fujian and have similar general demographics. However, the adjusted mortality rate of gastric cancer in Minqing was found to be much higher than that in Nanjing. We sought to explore factors associated with this increased risk of gastric cancer between the two counties. Methods: We recruited 231 and 224 residents from Nanjing and Minqing, respectively, and analyzed differences between their dietary habits, Helicobacter pylori infection rates, and concentrations of serum pepsinogen I, pepsinogen II, gastrin-17, and ratio of pepsinogen I:II. Results: Subjects in Minqing had more first-degree relatives who had been diagnosed with upper gastrointestinal tumor, more unhealthy dietary habits, a higher Helicobacter pylori positive rate, and greater proportion of abnormal serum gastrin-17 than those in Nanjing did. Conclusions: The factors that differed between these two counties might indicate that residents in Minqing have a higher risk for developing gastric cancer than those in Nanjing do.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.18
• /
• pp.7635-7638
• /
• 2014

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the value of serum gastric markers to differentiate between patients with precancerous lesions and nonatrophic chronic gastritis. Materials and Methods: Serum samples of 128 patients with dyspepsia who were candidates for endoscopic examination were tested for pepsinogen (PG I and PG II), PG I/II ratio, gastrin 17(G-17), anti-Helicobacter pylori (anti-H pylori ) and anti-CagA antibodies. Two sample t-tests, chi-square tests and Pearson's correlation analyses were used for analysis using SPSS (version 20). Results: PGI, PG I/II ratio values were decreased significantly in the precancerous lesion group (0.05, 0.001 respectively). The frequency of H pylori infection was significantly (p=0.03) different between the two groups ofthe study. Conclusions: We suggest PGI and the PG I/II ratio as valuable markers for screening of premalignant gastric lesions.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.27 no.4 s.48
• /
• pp.677-691
• /
• 1994

To evaluate the validity of serum pepsinogen levels as a screening tool for gastric cancer and adenoma, immunoradiometric assays of serum pepsinogen I level (PG I), II level (PG II) and esphagogastroduodenal endoscopies were done in 757 health examinees. Serum PG I level was higher in subjects with active duodenal ulcer (n=45, $75.2{\pm}34.3{\mu}g/l(mean{\pm}standard\;deviation)$, p<0.01) and gastroduodenal ulcers (n=8, $75.6{\pm}19.8{\mu}g/l$, p<0.05), and was lower in those with gastric adenoma(n=4, $37.7{\pm}37.2{\mu}g/l$, p<0.2) than those with normal, mild gastritis findings or ulcer scars (n=378, $56.6{\pm}24.9{\mu}g/l$. Serum PG II level was higher in subjects with active duodenal ulcer($17.2{\pm}13.8{\mu}g/l$, p<0.2), active gastro-duodenal ulcers ($18.3{\pm}7.4{\mu}g/l$, p<0.2) and gastric carcinoma (n=3, $23.8{\pm}10.9{\mu}g/l$, p<0.05) than those with normal, mild gastritis findings or ulcer scars $(14.5{\pm}7.9{\mu}g/l)$. Serum PG I/PG II ratio was higher in subjects with active duodenal ulcer($5.1{\pm}1.6$, p<0.05) and was lower in those with chronic gastritis(n=107, $4.1{\pm}1.7$, p<0.05), gastric polyp(n=19, $3.9{\pm}1.4$, p<0.2), gastric adenoma(n=4, $2.1{\pm}1.9$, p<0.01) and gastric carcinoma(n=3, $2.7{\pm}1.2$, p<0.1) than those with normal, mild gastritis findings or ulcer scars ($4.5{\pm}1.7$). Serum PG II level increased with age until 6th decade, whereas serum PG I/PG II ratio decreased with age in 378 subjects with normal, mild gastritis findings or ulcer scars. The screening criteria of serum PG I<$70{\mu}g/l$ and PG I/PG II ratio<3.0 for detecting gastric cancer and adenoma gave a positive rate of 15.7%, sensitivity of 57.1% and specificity of 84.7%.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.3931-3936
• /
• 2013

Background: Iran is a country with very high incidences of stomach cancer, especially in Northern parts. Here we assessed prognostic value of serum screening biomarkers among people >50 years old for early detection of precancerous lesions in a hot spot for gastric carcinoma in Guilan Province, North Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted on 1,390 residents of Lashtenasha city with the mean age (SD) of 61.8 (9.02) years old (50.8% females) to assess the association of gastrin and the pepsinogen (PG) I/II ratio with premalignant gastric lesions. Blood samples were taken for CBC, blood group, and serologic exams (PGI, PGII, and gastrin 17) from each subject. Expert gastroenterologists performed upper GI endoscopy and ROC curves were generated to determine appropriate cutoff points. Results: Mean values of PGI, PGII, PGI/PGII and gastrin were significantly different between patients with and without atrophy or metaplasia (P<0.05). To diagnose atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, a significantly higher AUC was observed for the PGI/PGII ratio (70 and 72%, respectively) compared to the PGI (56, 55%), PGII (63, 64%) and gastrin (59, 61%) (all p<0.001). Conclusions: Biomarker tests such as the PGI/II ratio can be used in the screening and diagnosis of subjects at high gastric cancer risk in our region.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.167-171
• /
• 2009

Purpose: This study was done to determine the usefulness of serum pepsinogen (PG) levels as a screening method for gastric cancer, and to assess the relationships between serum PG and clinicopathologic factors of gastric adenocarcinoma. Materials and Methods: Serum PG concentrations were measured in 94 subjects who were classified into (a) a control group (50 subjects) without abnormal endoscopic finding on a health checkup, or (b) a gastric cancer group (44 subjects) who had surgery at Daegu Catholic University Hospital between Nov. 2008 and May 2009. Receiver operator characteristic curves were utilized to select the most suitable test. Using different cutoff points, sensitivity and specificity were calculated. We compared preoperative serum PG levels with several clinicopathologic findings for patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. Results: The Serum PG I：II ratio was the most useful as a screening test. The sensitivity and specificity of PG screening for gastric cancer were, respectively, 81.8% and 82%. The cut off point correlated with the type of intestinal cancer (Lauren classification; P=0.003), tumor stage (P=0.001), and gastric adenocarcinoma with peritumoral chronic atrophic gastritis (P=0.036). Conclusion: Serum PG levels were found to be a potentially useful screening test and to correlate with clinicopathologic factors in gastric cancer patients. But, in order to use serum PG found in a health checkup for gastric cancer as a clinical application a large scale study is recommended.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.17
• /
• pp.7433-7436
• /
• 2014

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is the second cause of cancer related death in the world. It may develop by progression from its precancerous condition, called gastric atrophy (GA) due to gastritis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of serum levels of pepsinogens (Pg) and gastrin-17 (G17) as non-invasive methods to discriminate GA or GC (GA/GC) patients. Materials and Methods: Subjects referred to gastrointestinal clinics of Golestan province of Iran during 2010 and 2011 were invited to participate. Serum levels of PgI, PgII and G17 were measured using a GastroPanel kit. Based on the pathological examination of endoscopic biopsy samples, subjects were classified into four groups: normal, non-atrophic gastritis, GA, and GC. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was used to determine cut-off values. Indices of validity were calculated for serum markers. Results: Study groups were normal individuals (n=74), non-atrophic gastritis (n=90), GA (n=31) and GC patients (n=30). The best cut-off points for PgI, PgI/II ratio, G17 and HP were $80{\mu}g/L$, 10, 6 pmol/L, and 20 EIU, respectively. PgI could differentiate GA/GC with high accuracy (AUC=0.83; 95%CI: 0.76-0.89). The accuracy of a combination of PgI and PgI/II ratio for detecting GA/GC was also relatively high (AUC=0.78; 95%CI: 0.70-0.86). Conclusions: Our findings suggested PgI alone as well as a combination of PgI and PgI/II ratio are valid markers to differentiate GA/GC. Therefore, Pgs may be considered in conducting GC screening programs in high-risk areas.