title: The expression of HMGA2 varies strongly among colon carcinomas.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The expression of high mobility group protein AT-hook2 (HMGA2) indicates a worse prognosis in many epithelial malignancies, such as colon cancer. The present study addresses methodological aspects, as well as the genetic background, of the HMGA2 expression in colon cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Samples of 38 colon carcinomas were studied for the expression of HMGA2 by quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR). In selected cases, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was also performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overexpression of HMGA2, compared to adjacent mucosa, is not consistent among colon carcinomas: Only a minority of carcinomas strongly overexpressed HMGA2, but in no more than 50% of the tumors did the expression exceed the average value in mucosa samples. qRT-PCR clearly reveals a continuum between cases with high and low expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For HMGA2-based risk assessment, continuous rather than discontinuous models seem to be most appropriate. However, in daily practice, IHC seems to be a suitable method to stratify for high-risk patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Burkhard Maria
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Helmke
authors.forename: Dominique Nadine
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Markowski
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Jörn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bullerdiek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D025743:HMGA2 Protein / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D025743:HMGA2 Protein; D012333:RNA, Messenger