Expression of Cdx2 Protein in Colorectal Cancer.
- Author:
Jong Hae PACK
1
;
Tae Dong KIM
;
Heun Ah OH
;
Eun Joo LEE
;
Jun Whan KIM
;
Byung Ik JANG
;
Tae Nyeun KIM
;
Moon Kwan JUNG
;
Young Kyung BAE
Author Information
1. Departments of Internal Medicine, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea. tnk@med.yu.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article ; English Abstract
- Keywords:
Cdx2;
Transcription factor;
Immunohistochemistry;
Colon cancer
- MeSH:
Adult;
Aged;
Aged, 80 and over;
Colorectal Neoplasms/*metabolism/pathology;
Female;
Homeodomain Proteins/*metabolism;
Humans;
Immunohistochemistry;
Male;
Middle Aged;
Tumor Markers, Biological/analysis
- From:The Korean Journal of Gastroenterology
2005;46(3):204-210
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND/AIMS: The caudal-related homeobox transcription factor, Cdx2, plays an important role in proliferation and differentiation of intestinal epithelial cells. Its expression is confined to normal and neoplastic intestinal epithelium. We evaluated Cdx2 expression in advanced colorectal cancers to determine the correlation between Cdx2 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics. METHODS: Four hundreds twenty consecutive colorectal cancers were included in the study. Cdx2 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarrays constructed from surgically resected specimens. 145 invasive breast cancers, normal tissues from gastric mucosa, liver, lung, kidney and ovary were used as control. Nuclear staining was considered to be positive and the result was divided into 3 categories. RESULTS: In the colorectal cancers, Cdx2 was expressed in 380 of 420 (90.5%) cases, and 349 of 380 (83%) cases showed strong and diffuse staining and 31 of 420 (7.5%) cases showed weakly positive staining. Forty patients (9.5%) of colorectal cancer were negative for Cdx2. All of the invasive breast cancers and all non-neoplastic control tissues except the regions of intestinal metaplasia in gastric mucosa, which showed strong Cdx2 expression, were negative for Cdx2. Loss of Cdx2 expression was observed more frequently in cases with deeper invasion (p<0.05), lymph node metastasis (p<0.05), poor histologic differentiation (p<0.001), and distant metastasis (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Cdx2 could be a highly sensitive marker to detect metastasis from intestine and might be useful as a novel prognostic marker in colorectal cancers.
