Adenoma-carcinoma sequence: a reappraisal with immunohistochemical expression of ferritin.
To examine the biological significance of ferritin (FRN) expression, a retrospective immunohistochemical study was performed in normal colonic mucosae (n = 8), adenomas (n = 88), and colorectal carcinomas (n = 104). FRN was present in some epithelia in the crypt base of normal colonic mucosae. Significant cytoplasmic staining for FRN was revealed in 26 (29.5%) cases of adenoma and 54 cases (51.9%) of adenocarcinoma. The cancer cells had a higher proportion of FRN expression than those of adenomas or non-neoplastic mucosae (P < 0.001). Expression of FRN showed a positive association with the degree of dysplasia (P = 0.039) and the distal location of adenoma (P = 0.013). FRN expression tended to be associated with the tumor size (P = 0.083), but no substantial difference was observed among the histologic types of adenoma (P = 0.754). The results suggest that cytoplasmic FRN expression is associated with cellular proliferation. The proliferative index shows a significant difference through the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Further investigation is necessary to clarify the clinical implication of FRN expression in tumor cells and normal-appearing mucosae.
Yang
H B
HB
Department of Pathology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Hsu
P I
PI
Lee
J C
JC
Chan
S H
SH
Lin
X Z
XZ
Chow
N H
NH
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000236:Adenoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D002455:Cell Division; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013194:Staining and Labeling
D005293:Ferritins