Immunohistochemical study of c-erbB-2 protein in colorectal cancer and the correlation with patient survival.
We related events in immunohistochemical studies on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded preparations of 146 colorectal cancer patients. One hundred (68.5%) revealed cytoplasmic staining and only 3 of the 100 showed membranous staining. Western blot analysis revealed proteins with molecular masses of 185 and 155 kD following immunohistochemical membranous and cytoplasmic staining, but only a 155-kD protein following cytoplasmic staining. Amplification of the c-erbB-2 gene was detected in 2 of 44 cases (4.5%). Cytoplasmic c-erbB-2 overexpression correlated with tumor size (p < 0.01), subserosal invasion (p < 0.05), liver metastasis (p < 0.01) and Dukes' classification. Overall survival rates and survival rates for Dukes'B patients were significantly lower in the group with cytoplasmic c-erbB-2 overexpression than in the group without cytoplasmic c-erbB-2 overexpression. Multivariate regression analysis showed cytoplasmic c-erbB-2 overexpression to be an independent prognostic factor for colorectal cancer. These results suggest that overexpression of cytoplasmic c-erbB-2 protein plays an important role in the progression of colorectal cancer and is considered to be an independent prognostic indicator of this lesion.
Department of Surgery I, Oita Medical University, Oita, Japan.
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T
Osako
M
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Miyahara
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Uchino
M
M
Inomata
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Kitano
M
M
Kobayashi
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016019:Survival Analysis
D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases