title: Clinical applications of gene expression in colorectal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite developments in diagnosis and treatment, 20% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients present with metastatic disease and 30% of cases recur after curative surgery. Furthermore, the molecular factors involved in prognosis and response to therapy in CRC is poorly understood. The aims of this study were to quantitatively examine the expression of target genes in colorectal cancer and to correlate their expression levels with clinico-pathological variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  A detailed analysis of published CRC microarray data was performed to identify the most prominent genes. The selected genes were validated in fifty-two pairs of fresh colorectal tumour and associated normal tissue specimens by RQ-PCR using TaqMan(®) assays. Statistical analysis and correlation with clinicopathological data was performed using SPSS software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Expression levels of CXCL12 (P=0.000), CDH17 (P=0.026), MUC2 (P=0.000), L-FABP (P=0.000) and PDCD4 (P=0.000) were down regulated and IL8 (P=0.000) was upregulated in tumours compared to normal colorectal tissues. No significant differences were noted in expression of CEACAM5, CXCR4, CXCR7, TGFB1, TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Furthermore, we found significant associations of gene expression levels and clinicopathological variables such as tumour size, grade, invasion and lymph node status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We identified a comprehensive list of genes with highly differential expression patterns in colorectal cancer that could serve as molecular markers to complement existing histopathological factors in diagnosis, follow up and therapeutic strategies for individualised care of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: Elrasheid A H
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kheirelseid
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Kah Hoong
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nugent
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kerin
keywords: Gene expression in colorectal cancer; molecular profiling in colorectal cancer; neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy in rectal cancer