Protein kinase C-beta II (PKC-beta II) expression in patients with colorectal cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Current development of targeted agents for the treatment of colorectal cancer include the clinical evaluation of kinase inhibitors, such as enzastaurin, a serine/threonine kinase inhibitor designed to suppress signaling through Protein Kinase C (PKC) and AKT pathways. Little is known about the expression of PKC-beta in colorectal cancer or the prognostic value in colorectal cancer, which was the focus of the present study.


METHODS
PKC-beta II protein expression was examined in 99 primary colorectal adenocarcinomas and 33 corresponding regional lymph node metastases by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The PKC-beta II immunoreactivity was mutually compared and correlated with survival information of all examined patients.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemical expression of PKC-beta II was detected in 18/99 carcinomas (18.2%). There was no correlation between PKC-beta II staining and traditional clinicopathological parameters. However the median survival was 2.2 years in PKC-beta II expressing tumors compared to 5.4 in PKC-beta II negative tumors (p = 0.25), with a trend for association to poor prognosis.


CONCLUSIONS
We here describe for the first time the immunohistochemical detection of PKC-beta II in patients with colorectal cancer and show a trend associating with poor survival. The role of PKC-beta II staining in colorectal tumors deserves further evaluation.
Spindler
Karen-Lise Garm
KL
Danish Colorectal Cancer Group South, Vejle Hospital, 7100, Vejle, Denmark. Karen-lise.garm.spindler@vgs.regionsyddanmark.dk
Lindebjerg
Jan
J
Lahn
Michael
M
Kjaer-Frifeldt
Sanne
S
Jakobsen
Anders
A
D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism*; D064546:Protein Kinase C beta; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D011493:Protein Kinase C; D064546:Protein Kinase C beta