Clinicopathological Analysis Of Thymidine Phosphorylase(TP) Expression In Gastrointestinal Cancer

Background: The effect of capecitabine-based chemotherapy for Gastrointestinal cancer isequivalent to i.v.5-FU/LV,which is due to the truth that capecitabine converts5-FU throughthymidine phosphorylase(TP) and TP is higher in gastrointestinal cancer tissues than inadjacent normal tissues.Objective: To evaluate TP expression in gastrointestinal cancer tissues.Materials and Methods: This study includes three hundred and thirty patients withgastrointestinal cancer(100cases of gastric carcinoma,106cases of colon carcinoma and124cases of rectal carcinoma).Immunohistochemical staining for TP was detected in thispatients and more than5%positive cells in the tumor tissue was considered TP positive.Results: The rate of TP expression in gastric carcinoma, colon carcinoma, rectal carcinomais respectively76%,56.6%, and50%.Conclusion: Not all patients with gastrointestinal cancer are TP positive. Whether it cantake advantage of local high5-FU concentration for the TP negativecarcinoma patients with the capecitabine-based chemotherapy? And whether thecapecitabine-based chemotherapy efficacy for the TP positive carcinoma patients is betterthan the TP negative patients and patients with FU/LV. We will perform further study toconfirm it.