MUC1 Expression in Colorectal Cancer is Associated with Malignant Clinicopathological Factors

Abstract

: This study aimed to evaluate the frequency, distribution, and corresponding histology of MUC1 expression in colorectal cancer and examine its association with clinicopathological factors. MUC1 expression was con rmed in 86 of 169 surgically resected colorectal cancers 51% , although the ratio of MUC1-positive cells was less than 5% in 33 cases 20% , 5-50% in 46 cases 27% , and greater than 50% in only 7 cases 4% . None or less than 5% of MUC1 expression cases were classi ed as L-group cancers 116 cases, 69% , while cancers showing higher than 5% expression were classi ed into the H-group 53 cases, 31% . Analysis of the intratumoral distribution of positive cells in the H-group cases showed MUC1 expression distributed predominantly in the upper layers in 3 cases 6% , in the lower layers in 18 cases 34% , and in all layers in 32 cases 60% . MUC1 expression was observed in various histomorphological cancer forms, but the most frequent expression was noted in the monolayer cuboidal pancreatobiliary-type neoplastic glands. Considering the relationship between MUC1 expression and clinicopathological factors, H-group cases demonstrated signi cantly larger lesions showing a greater number of ulcerated-type cancers, deeper invasion, poorer differentiation, higher frequency of budding, and higher rate of lymph node metastasis than L-group cancers. Furthermore, there was a difference of 10% between the H-group and L-group with regard to the frequency of relapse/tumor mortality three years after surgery. In colorectal cancer, MUC1 expression increases with progression of the tumor indicating that it is one of the useful indicators of malignancy and may facilitate appropriate treatment regimens ; however, as its expression is heterogeneous and localized, it will be necessary to con rm the state of MUC1 expression by case.

A Clinicopathological Study of Primary Small Intestinal Cancer with Emphasis on Cellular Characteristics

“…4 reported that all small intestinal adenocarcinomas showed a variable degree of CK7 expression diffuse in 54 and focal in 46 ; in contrast, only 4 in this study showed focal expression in secondary colorectal adenocarcinomas. We also confirmed that only 7 4 of 169 colorectal adenocarcinomas exhibited a MUC1 positive cell ratio of 50 , while ratios this high were shown in 41 70 of 59 pancreatic adenocarcinomas and 3 30 of 10 small intestinal adenocarcino-mas 18 . Moreover, genetic abnormalities of colorectal cancer e.g., APC gene mutations do not always apply to small intestinal cancers 5,6,19 .…”