BACKGROUNDLoss of the cell‐cycle inhibitory protein p27Kip1 is associated with poor prognosis in colorectal carcinoma. The decrease in p27Kip1 levels is the result of increased proteasome‐dependent degradation, mediated and rate‐limited by its specific ubiquitin ligase subunits S‐phase kinase protein (Skp) 2 and cyclin‐dependent kinase subunit (Cks) 1. Recently, Skp2 and Cks1 expression were found to be increased in some colorectal carcinomas, but their potential role as prognostic markers for survival is unknown. The present study was undertaken to assess the prognostic value of both Skp2 and Cks1 in colorectal carcinoma.MATERIALS AND METHODSThe expression of Skp2, Cks1, and p27Kip1 was examined by immunohistochemistry using highly specific antibodies on formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded tissue sections from 80 patients with colorectal carcinoma.RESULTSOverexpression of Skp2 and Cks1 strongly correlated with loss of p27Kip1 and loss of tumor differentiation. A significant decrease in overall survival was observed in patients expressing high Skp2 or Cks1 levels, and in particular, patients with Stage II and III disease. Each protein provided significant additional prognostic information to that given by disease stage, tumor grade, or p27Kip1 expression.CONCLUSIONSResults suggest that overexpression of Skp2 or Cks1 is strongly associated with poor prognosis and may thus be used as prognostic markers for overall survival in colorectal carcinoma. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.

BACKGROUND Low levels of p27Kip1 are associated with high aggressiveness and poor prognosis in various malignancies, including colorectal carcinoma. The authors showed that S phase kinase protein 2 (Skp2), the specific ubiquitin ligase subunit that targets p27Kip1 for degradation, was overexpressed and was inversely related to p27Kip1 levels in patients with colorectal carcinoma. The essential role of cyclin kinase subunit 1 (Cks1) in Skp2‐dependent p27 degradation was recently discovered, but its role in human malignancies is unknown. METHODS Quick‐frozen colorectal tumor samples from 30 patients were separated by electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gels, transferred to nitrocellulose, and probed with highly specific monoclonal antibodies directed against Cks1, Skp2, and p27Kip1. The expression of Cks1 was also examined by immunohistochemistry using formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded tissue sections from the same patients. RESULTS A strong correlation was found between Cks1 levels and Skp2 expression and loss of tumor differentiation. A significant inverse relation was also observed between levels of Cks1 and p27Kip1 and overall survival. CONCLUSIONS The results of the current study suggest that increased expression of Cks1 may have an important causative role in decreasing levels of p27 in patients with aggressive colorectal carcinoma. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.

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Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is frequently associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The incidence of NPC in Western countries is lower than in the Far East, and EBV latency in NPC is less prevalent. Israel, as a part of the Mediterranean area, is one of the countries with an intermediate risk for NPC. Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) and in situ hybridisation (ISH) for EBV encoded RNA (EBER) were used to evaluate the prevalence and possible prognostic value of EBV latency among Israeli patients with NPC. Forty five patients with different NPC histologies were studied. Results: LMP-1 IHC was positive in six samples only, all with undifferentiated histology. EBER ISH was positive in 40 of the 45 samples. According to histological type, three of five patients with squamous cell carcinoma were EBV positive and 37 of 40 non-keratinising and undifferentiated carcinoma cases were positive. Although EBV was more prevalent in patients with non-squamous carcinoma, the difference was not significant, probably because of the small number of patients with keratinising carcinoma. With regard to the clinical categories and survival, no significant difference could be detected between patients who were positive or negative for EBER ISH. No association was found between EBV latency and patient sex, age, origin, stage, or survival. Conclusions: NPC in Israel is highly associated with EBV latency as detected by EBER ISH. LMP-1 IHC is considerably less sensitive in detecting EBV latency in NPC among the same patient group.

No parameter had significant predictive values for survival, although c-Kit expression had a trend for better prognosis in the pediatric group. By univariate analysis of all 48 cases, positive c-Kit was associated with better survival (P = 0.029), largely due to the better survival of the pediatric group. By multivariate analysis, increased stage (P = 0.006) and older age (P = 0.044) correlated with worse prognosis.