Somatostatin Receptors 3, 4 and 5 Play Important Roles in Gallbladder Cancer

Expression changes of somatostatin receptor subtypes (SSTRs) including SSTR1, SSTR2, SSTR3, SSTR4and SSTR5 in the development of gallbladder cancer were assessed with attention to relationships with clinicalpathological characteristics. SSTRs in 29 gallbladder cancer and 25 normal gallbladder tissue specimens wereexamined by immunohistochemical staining. Differences between SSTRs expressions and clinical pathologicalparameters were analyzed by chi-square test. The five subtypes of SSTR were all expressed in gallbladder cancertissues and SSTR3 presented the highest expression. SSTR5 expression was increased significantly in gallbladdercancer (P<0.05) compared with that in normal gallbladder tissue. SSTR3 expression in highly and moderatelydifferentiated gallbladder cancer was significantly higher than that in poorly differentiated lesions (P<0.05).SSTR4 expression was lower in gallbladder cancer with lymph node metastasis than that in gallbladder cancerwithout lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Therfore, these results indicated that SSRT5, SSTR3 and SSTR4 mayplay important roles in the formation and development of gallbladder cancer.