title: Morphologic pattern of tenascin as a diagnostic biomarker in colon cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Immunohistochemical methods were used to study the pattern of expression of tenascin (TN) in invasive colon cancer and its relation to prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty patients (29 males, 31 females) with a mean age of 77 years were studied. TN expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using paraffin-embedded tissue sections, TN expression levels were correlated with patient age, tumor stage, and survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TN positivity varied from trace to 4+. Staining patterns were as follows: in well-differentiated cancer, TN fibers form thick bands around invading tumor glands. In poorly differentiated cancer, TN fibers had an interstitial pattern surrounding individual tumor cells. Using Cox's proportional hazard regression method, survival was significantly related to TN score (P < 0.0001) and stage of disease (P < 0.05). No significant relationship was found between survival and age (P = 0.375).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with more TN expression had better long-term survival than patients with no or weak TN expression. Pathologic and clinical entities in colon cancer have distinct immunohistochemical TN matrix patterns that may correlate with predictive value and long-term survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA.
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Iskaros
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kadish
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Steinberg
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019063:Tenascin / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019063:Tenascin