Comparative Immunofluorescence Analysis of Beta-III Tubulin (TUBB3) Expression in the Gastric Cancer Tissue and Morphologically Normal Tissue Adjacent to the Tumor

The immunofluorescence analysis of the tumor-associated protein TUBB3 in gastric cancer tissue and morphologically normal tissue adjacent to the tumor was carried out using flow cytometry (in total 48 samples). Expression of TUBB3 was detected in 100% of the tumors and in 79.2% of the normal tissue samples. The marker expression level in 36.8% of the normal tissue samples was approximately equal to that in the tumor; it was significantly (by a factor of 1.8) lower in 63.2% of the cases. Direct correlation was found between the level of TUBB3 expression in the tumor and normal tissue ( p = 0.0061). It is concluded that the TUBB3 expression in morphologically normal tissue adjacent to the tumor can be a molecular marker of the local spread of gastric cancer and a guideline in selecting the optimal postoperative patient management.