BACKGROUND & AIMS: Recent in vitro studies showed that beta-catenin translocated into the tumor cell nucleus functions as an oncogene by transactivating oncogenes, including MMP-7. We conducted a large-scale analysis of beta-catenin and MMP-7 expression in human colon cancer to determine the potential clinical importance of these molecules. METHODS: In 202 colon cancer patients with known postoperative outcomes, we determined the expression of beta-catenin and MMP-7 in the tumors immunohistochemically and correlated the findings with the patients' clinicopathological characteristics and survival. RESULTS: We found 2 distinct patterns of beta-catenin nuclear accumulation (NA) in the colon cancers: diffuse NA (NAd) in 89 cases (44%) and selective NA at the invasion front (NAinv) in 18 cases (9%). The presence of the NAinv pattern was significantly correlated with advanced Dukes' stage (P = 0.0187) and tumor recurrence (P = 0.0005) as well as with MMP-7 expression in the tumor invasion front (P = 0.0025), resulting in extremely unfavorable clinical outcomes. A multivariate analysis determined that the NAinv expression pattern and Dukes' C stage were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Oncogenic activation of beta-catenin in the tumor invasion front, as represented by its NAinv pattern of expression, may be an independent and reliable indicator of membership in a subset of colon cancer patients who are highly susceptible to tumor recurrence and have a less favorable survival rate.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Recent in vitro studies showed that beta-catenin translocated into the tumor cell nucleus functions as an oncogene by transactivating oncogenes, including MMP-7. We conducted a large-scale analysis of beta-catenin and MMP-7 expression in humancolon cancer to determine the potential clinical importance of these molecules. METHODS: In 202 colon cancerpatients with known postoperative outcomes, we determined the expression of beta-catenin and MMP-7 in the tumors immunohistochemically and correlated the findings with the patients' clinicopathological characteristics and survival. RESULTS: We found 2 distinct patterns of beta-catenin nuclear accumulation (NA) in the colon cancers: diffuse NA (NAd) in 89 cases (44%) and selective NA at the invasion front (NAinv) in 18 cases (9%). The presence of the NAinv pattern was significantly correlated with advanced Dukes' stage (P = 0.0187) and tumor recurrence (P = 0.0005) as well as with MMP-7 expression in the tumor invasion front (P = 0.0025), resulting in extremely unfavorable clinical outcomes. A multivariate analysis determined that the NAinv expression pattern and Dukes' C stage were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Oncogenic activation of beta-catenin in the tumor invasion front, as represented by its NAinv pattern of expression, may be an independent and reliable indicator of membership in a subset of colon cancerpatients who are highly susceptible to tumor recurrence and have a less favorable survival rate.
Authors: Giuseppe Pelosi; Aldo Scarpa; Giulia Veronesi; Lorenzo Spaggiari; Barbara Del Curto; Patrick S Moore; Patrick Maisonneuve; Angelica Sonzogni; Michele Masullo; Giuseppe Viale Journal: Virchows Arch Date: 2005-09-13 Impact factor: 4.064
Authors: S Kurokawa; Y Arimura; H Yamamoto; Y Adachi; T Endo; T Sato; T Suga; M Hosokawa; Y Shinomura; K Imai Journal: Gut Date: 2005-12 Impact factor: 23.059