title: Overexpression of Wnt-2 in colorectal cancers.
abstract: The binding of the Wnt ligand to its receptor Frizzled, activates the Wnt canonical signaling pathway in carcinogenesis as well as many cellular processes, including cellular proliferation and differentiation. Wnt-2, one of 19 members of the <em>Wnt</em> gene family, is frequently overexpressed in malignant tissues. Here, in order to investigate the role of Wnt-2 in colorectal carcinogenesis, we examined the expression of the Wnt-2 protein in 120 colorectal cancers by immunohistochemistry. Wnt-2 protein was expressed in the cell membrane and cytoplasm and up-regulated in 74 (61.7%) of 120 colorectal cancers. Statistically, overexpression of Wnt-2 protein was not associated with the clinical and pathological parameters studied, including tumor location, tumor size, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and 5-year survival (<em>P > </em>0.05). These results indicate that up-regulation of the Wnt-2 protein might play a role in the development of colorectal cancers, as an early event of carcinogenesis.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Wnt-2 protein, expression, immunohistochemistry, tissue microarray, colon cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015996:Survival Rate; D051154:Wnt2 Protein / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D051154:Wnt2 Protein