AIM:To compare the expression patterns of cholecystokinin-B (CCK-B)/gastrin receptor genes in matched human gastriccarcinoma and adjacent non-neoplastic mucosa of patientswith gastric cancer,inflammatory gastric mucosa frompatients with gastritis,normal stomachs from 2 autopsiedpatients and a gastric carcinoma cell line (SGC-7901),andto explore their relationship with progression to malignancyof human gastric carcinomas.METHODS:RT-PCR and sequencing were employed to detectthe mRNA expression levels of CCK-B receptor and gastringene in specimens from 30 patients with gastric carcinomaand healthy bordering non-cancerous mucosa,10 gastritispatients and normal stomachs from 2 autopsied patients aswell as SGC-7901.The results were semi-quantified bynormalizing it to the mRNA level of β-actin gene using Lab Imagesoftware.The sequences were analyzed by BLAST program.RESULTS:CCK-B receptor transcripts were detected in all ofhuman gastric tissues in this study,including normal,inflammatory and malignant tissues and SGC-7901.However,the expression levels of CCK-B receptor in normal gastrictissues were higher than those in other groups (P<0.05),and its expressions did not correlate with the differentiationand metastasis of gastric cancer (P>0.05).On the otherhand,gastrin mRNA was detected in SGC-7901 and inspecimens obtained from gastric cancer patients (22/30)but not in other gastric tissues,and its expression was highlycorrelated with the metastases of gastric cancer (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Human gastric carcinomas and gastriccancer cell line SGC-7901 cells coexpress CCK-B receptorand gastrin mRNA.Gastrin/CCK-B receptor autocrine orparacrine pathway may possibly play an important role inthe progression of gastric cancer. AIM: To compare the expression patterns of cholecystokinin-B (CCK-B) / gastrin receptor genes in matched human gastric carcinoma and adjacent non-neoplastic mucosa of patients with gastric cancer, inflammatory gastric mucosa from patients with gastritis, normal stomachs from 2 autopsied patients and a gastric carcinoma cell line (SGC-7901), and to explore their relationship with progression to malignancy of human gastric carcinomas. METHODS: RT-PCR and sequencing were employed to detect the mRNA expression levels of CCK-B receptor and gastrin gene in specimens from 30 patients with gastric carcinoma and healthy bordering non-cancerous mucosa, 10 gastritis patients and normal stomachs from 2 autopsied patients aswell as SGC-7901. The results were semi-quantified by normalizing it to the mRNA level of β-actin gene using Lab Images of Software. The sequences analyzed by BLAST program .RESULTS: CCK-B receptor transcripts were detected in all ofhuman gastric tissues in this study, including normal, inflammatory and malignant tissues and SGC-7901.However, the expression levels of CCK-B receptor in normal gastrictissues were higher than those in other groups (P <0.05), and its expressions did not correlate with the differentiation and metastasis of gastric cancer (P> 0.05 ) .On the otherhand, gastrin mRNA was detected in SGC-7901 and inspecimens obtained from gastric cancer patients (22/30) but not in other gastric tissues, and its expression was highlycorrelated with the metastases of gastric cancer (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: Human gastric carcinomas and gastriccancer cell line SGC-7901 cells coexpress CCK-B receptorand gastrin mRNA. Gastrin / CCK-B receptor autocrine orparacrine pathway may play an important role inthe progression of gastric cancer.