Bang Ju Kim, Sung Eun Kim, Seun Ja Park, Moo In Park, Won Moon, Jae Hyun Kim, Kyoungwon Jung, Myung Hun Lee, Jung Wook Lee, Kyung Won Seo, Hee-Kyung Chang
Kosin Med J. 2025;40(3):233-238. Published online September 23, 2025
A 74-year-old male patient presented to our hospital for treatment of gastric cancer in 2021. He had previously visited our institution in 2011 for assessment of a gastric subepithelial lesion (SEL), which was discovered incidentally during a health screening esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Endoscopic ultrasonography and abdominal computed tomography were conducted for evaluation of the gastric SEL, revealing an approximately 1 cm lesion arising from the muscularis propria. The lesion was initially thought to represent a mesenchymal tumor such as leiomyoma or gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Owing to its small size and absence of symptoms, no immediate intervention was undertaken, and the patient underwent regular surveillance only. Follow-up was maintained until 2018 and no notable changes in the gastric SEL were detected. The patient then voluntarily discontinued further follow-up. In 2021, a routine health screening EGD identified changes in the gastric SEL, and histopathological analysis confirmed adenocarcinoma. The patient subsequently underwent radical total gastrectomy utilizing the Roux-en-Y technique, with the final pathological diagnosis being stage I (pT2N0M0) gastric cancer with lymphoid stroma (GCLS). As of April 2025, there has been no evidence of cancer recurrence. This case illustrates a lesion initially diagnosed as SEL that later was identified as GCLS after a 10-year interval. Therefore, during EGD, clinicians should consider the potential for SEL-like gastric cancer if an SEL is observed. This report highlights the importance of close monitoring and a thorough diagnostic evaluation.
Background Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Colorectal cancer that has recurred and metastasized to other organs also has a very poor prognosis. According to recent studies, the long interspersed element-1 (LINE-1) retrotransposon open reading frame (ORF) is located in the intron of the c-Met proto-oncogene, which is involved in cancer progression and metastasis, and regulates its expression. However, no study has compared the expression patterns of LINE-1 ORF1 and c-Met, which are closely related to cancer progression and metastasis, and their correlation in primary and recurrent cancers.
Methods In the present study, we compared the expression patterns of LINE-1 ORF1 and c-Met in both primary and recurrent colorectal cancer tissues from 10 patients. Expression patterns and correlations between LINE-1 ORF1 and c-Met proto-oncogene proteins were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining using both LINE-1 ORF1 and c-Met antibodies.
Results The expression patterns of LINE-1 ORF1 and c-Met showed significant individual differences, and the expression of both proteins was correlated in all colorectal cancer patients. However, the expression levels of LINE-1 ORF1 and c-Met were not significantly different between primary and recurrent colorectal cancers.
Conclusions The protein expression levels of LINE-1 ORF1 and c-Met were correlated, but did not change significantly in cases of recurrent colorectal cancer in the same patient.
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