Co-expression of receptor for advanced glycation end products and the ligand amphoterin associates closely with metastasis of colorectal cancer.

The clinical relevance of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and amphoterin expression was examined in 119 non-diabetic patients with colorectal carcinoma. Expression of RAGE was examined by immunohistochemistry and that of amphoterin by in situ hybridization. RAGE expression was observed in 55% (64/119) of the cases. RAGE positivity in Dukes' B, C and D cases was 19, 81 and 100%, respectively (p<0.0001). Amphoterin was expressed in most cases regardless of tumor stage. Survival analysis of Dukes' B and C cases showed a significantly poorer prognosis for patients with co-expression of RAGE and amphoterin than for patients without co-expression. The results suggest that co-expression of RAGE and amphoterin is closely associated with invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer.