Expression of c-met proto-oncogene in primary colorectal cancer and liver metastases.

We have examined the expression of c-met mRNA in tissue from 27 colorectal cancers and ten liver metastases using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction method. The expression of c-met mRNA in these tissues was quantified and the copy number of c-met mRNA to 10(8.0) copies of beta-actin mRNA was calculated. Mean copy numbers of c-met mRNA in cancer tissue and normal mucosa were 10(5.5) and 10(4.5) respectively. The c-met expression of cancer was significantly higher than that of normal mucosa (P < 0.0001). In 20 of 22 samples in which c-met expression of both tumor and corresponding normal tissue were examined, c-met was overexpressed in the cancer tissue. No correlation was found between c-met expression and the clinicopathologic background. The mean copy numbers of c-met mRNA in the tissue from the ten liver metastases and normal liver were 10(6.1) and 10(6.2) respectively. Although c-met expression in metastatic tissue was higher than that in the primary cancer tissue, the increase was not statistically significant. In three of four patients with synchronous liver metastases, c-met was overexpressed in the metastatic tissue compared with that in the corresponding primary cancer tissue. These results show that c-met is overexpressed in both primary colorectal cancer and liver metastases and suggest that c-met plays a role in the development of colorectal cancer liver metastases.