Abstract:

Objective To explore the expression and its clinical significance of inducible nitric oxide synthase（iNOS） in gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue （MALT） lymphoma. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to detect iNOS expression in tissue sections from 31 gastric MALT lymphomas and paired adjacent tissues. Then possible relationships were explored between iNOS expression and clinicopathological variables. Results The rate of high expression of iNOS was significantly higher in MALT lymphoma tissue （64.5%） than in paired adjacent tissues （29.03%，P<0.05）. Level of iNOS expression correlated with Ann-Arbor clinical stage and Helicobacter pylori（P<0.05），but not with gender，age or lymph node metastasis（P>0.05）. Conclusion  Expression of iNOS may contribute to the occurrence and development of gastric MALT lymphoma. This protein may serve as a biomarker for evaluating tumor behavior in patients with this disease.

Key words: Gastric lymphoma, Inducible nitric oxide synthase, Gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, Immuno-histochemistry, Expression, Clinical significance