CD133 gene overexpression is frequently observed in early colorectal carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Recently, it has been proved that colorectal carcinoma is created and propagated by a small number of undifferentiated tumorigenic CD133+ cells. The present study examined the CD133 gene expression in colorectal carcinomas we surgically removed.


METHODS
The CD133 gene expression in primary tumors and corresponding normal tissues derived from 30 patients with colorectal carcinoma was examined using a quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (QRT-PCR) and evaluated the correlation between the CD133 gene expression levels and the clinicopathological findings.


RESULTS
An increase in CD133 expression scores was observed in Dukes A's colorectal carcinomas (1.70 +/- 2.28) compared to Dukes B and C's colorectal carcinomas (0.76 +/- 0.71) (p = 0.0860). An increase in CD133 expression scores was also observed in female colorectal carcinomas (1.29 +/- 1.56) compared to male colorectal carcinomas (0.61 +/- 0.57) (p = 0.125).


CONCLUSIONS
CD133 gene overexpression in early colorectal cancer patients was more frequently observed than in advanced cases.
Hibi
Kenji
K
Department of Surgery, Showa University Fujigaoka Hospital, 1-30 Fujigaoka, Aoba-ku, Yokohama 227-8501, Japan. kenjih-ngy@umin.ac.jp
Sakata
Makiko
M
Sakuraba
Kazuma
K
Shirahata
Atsushi
A
Goto
Tetsuhiro
T
Mizukami
Hiroki
H
Saito
Mitsuo
M
Ishibashi
Kazuyoshi
K
Kigawa
Gaku
G
Nemoto
Hiroshi
H
Sanada
Yutaka
Y
D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000235:genetics*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D015703:Antigens, CD; D006023:Glycoproteins; C000606023:PROM1 protein, human; D010455:Peptides