The University of Tokyo · Medicine
Professor Tetsuo Ushiku's research lab specializes in molecular and pathological characterization of gastrointestinal and germ cell neoplasms, with a focus on identifying novel diagnostic biomarkers and understanding the molecular pathogenesis of gastric carcinoma, particularly subtypes associated with specific proteins like GPC3, p73, and claudin-6. The lab investigates the role of viral infections—such as Epstein-Barr virus—in gastric carcinogenesis and explores epigenetic alterations, including DNA methylation, in tumor suppressor genes. Additionally, the lab contributes to the histopathological classification of rare gastrointestinal tumors, such as extra-ampullary duodenal adenocarcinomas and inflammatory conditions like focally enhanced gastritis in pediatric IBD.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Gypican-3 (GPC3) has been recognized as an oncofetal protein in hepatic neoplasms and yolk sac tumors. To characterize a distinct subgroup of gastric carcinoma (GC) expressing GPC3 (GPC3-GC), primary and metastatic GC tissues were evaluated by immunohistochemistry with special focus on their related entities: hepatoid, clear-cell, and alpha-fetoprotein-producing GC. GPC3-GC was defined as focal GPC3-GC when 10-49% of neoplastic cells were positive, and as diffuse GPC3-GC when more than 50% of ce
To clarify the significance of p73 in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric carcinoma (GC), the immunohistochemical expression and CpG-island methylation of p73 were evaluated in cancer tissues and adjacent nonneoplastic tissues of GC with and without EBV infection. Loss of p73 expression by immunohistochemistry was specific to EBV-associated GC (11/13) compared to EBV-negative GC (3/38), which was independent of abnormal p53 expression. With methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction
Extra-ampullary duodenal adenocarcinomas are rare, and when studied, frequently have been grouped with jejunoileal adenocarcinomas. Nevertheless, anecdotal experiences suggest that these neoplasms may present 2 or more distinct phenotypes. To better characterize these neoplasms, we performed a retrospective review of 38 cases with a special focus on the morphologic and immunophenotypic characteristics and their clinicopathologic significance. Our cohort of extra-ampullary duodenal adenocarcinoma
This study demonstrated that claudin-6 is a novel diagnostic marker for primitive germ cell tumours and is also expressed frequently in some cancers with a primitive phenotype.
Although the significance of focally enhanced gastritis (FEG) as a marker of Crohn disease (CD) in adults has been contested, several studies suggest that it may be more specific of CD in pediatric patients. This study describes the detailed histologic features of FEG in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and clarifies its association with CD. A series of 119 consecutive newly diagnosed IBD patients (62 CD cases, 57 ulcerative colitis [UC] cases) with upper and lower gastrointestinal bio
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