Expression of cyclin E in stage III colorectal carcinoma.

Carcinogenesis is characterized by an abnormal regulation of the cell cycle. Regulators of the cell cycle such as cyclin E play an important role in neoplasia and may be correlated with prognosis. The clinical significance of the expression of cyclin E in stage III colorectal carcinoma has not yet been investigated. The expression of cyclin E was evaluated in 49 patients. Using a multivariate analysis, the expression of cyclin E in the tumor at diagnosis was compared with various clinicopathological variables, including age, gender, tumor site, tumor size, tumor differentiation and lymph node involvement. There were more node-positive cases in the cyclin E-negative group than in the cyclin E-positive group (P=0.003). However, there was no correlation between the degree of cyclin E expression and the clinical data. In conclusion, our data suggest that overexpression of cyclin E does not predict the clinical outcome in colorectal cancer stage III. Negative cyclin E staining may be associated with lymph node involvement.