Keratin 7 expression in lymph node metastases but not in the primary tumour correlates with distant metastases and poor prognosis in colon carcinoma.
Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Alterations in keratin expression, including keratin 7 (K7), are frequent findings in multiple cancers, and they constitute a prognostic factor. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of K7 in the primary tumour and lymph node metastases in two separate cohorts of patients: the first one with lymph node involvement (LN+, 129 cases) and the second one free of LN metastases (LN-, 85 cases). Keratin 7 expression in CRC was analysed on tissue microarrays with immunohistochemistry and evaluated using the h-score. In the LN+ group K7 positivity was identified in 7/129 (5.4%) of primary tumours (PT) and lymph node metastases (LNM); concordance between them was 94% ( 0.396). Keratin 7 was expressed in 8/85 cases (9.4%) in the LN- group. K7 expression in LNM of the LN+ cohort correlated with shorter overall survival (OS) (p = 0.047) and presence of distant metastases at diagnosis (p = 0.005). Expression of K7 in the primary tumour in both cohorts did not correlate with survival. We conclude that the status of K7 expression in metastatic lymph nodes from CRC is a poor prognostic factor.
Department of Pathomorphology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland. czapiewskipiotr@gumed.edu.pl.|Department of Pathology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
Piotr
P
Czapiewski
Department of Oncological Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Maciej
M
Bobowicz
Department of Pathomorphology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Rafał
R
Pęksa
Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Marcin
M
Skrzypski
Department of Pathomorphology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Adam
A
Gorczyński
Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Kamila
K
Szczepańska-Michalska
Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Aleksandra
A
Korwat
Chair of Oncological Surgery, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University; Oncology Centre, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Michał
M
Jankowski
Chair of Oncological Surgery, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University; Oncology Centre, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Wojciech
W
Zegarski
Department of Clinical Oncology, Centre of Oncology, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Anna
A
Szulgo-Paczkowska
Department of Oncological Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Tomasz
T
Polec
Department of Clinical Oncology of the University Clinical Centre, Silesian Medical University, Katowice, Poland.
Michał
M
Piątek
Department of Oncological Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Jarosław
J
Skokowski
Department of Pathology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.|Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Johannes
J
Haybaeck
Department of Medical Biotechnology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Anna
A
Żaczek
Department of Pathomorphology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Wojciech
W
Biernat
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D053552:Keratin-7 / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C507497:KRT7 protein, human; D053552:Keratin-7
 colon carcinoma;  lymph node metastases;  metastasis;  prognosis; keratin 7