Microarrays Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Microarrays, including details on experiments, designs, statistics, analysis, software.

Prognostic value of cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory proteins in mismatch repair-proficient colorectal cancer: a tissue microarray-based approach.

Tornillo L, Lugli A, Zlobec I, Willi N, Glatz K, Lehmann F, Spichtin HP, Maurer R, Stoios D, Sauter G, Terracciano L

Institute of Pathology, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.

Cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory proteins are markers of tumor progression in colorectal cancer. In a series of 1,274 mismatch repair-proficient colorectal cancers, immunohistochemical analysis of p21, p27, p53, and bcl-2 expression was performed using the tissue microarray technique.In univariate analysis, p21 expression was associated with tumor location and pN0; p27 expression with tumor location, lower tumor grade, early pT, and pN; p53 expression with tumor location; and bcl-2 with early pT and pN. Expression of p27 identified subgroups with worse prognosis in pT3 N0 and pT3 N+ patients. None of the 4 tumor markers were independent prognostic indicators of survival. The multimarker phenotypes p21/p27/p53 and p21/p27/bcl-2 were associated with survival.In mismatch repair-proficient colorectal cancer, p27 expression is associated with a better prognosis, and pT, pN, and vascular invasion are independent prognostic factors. In addition, multimarker phenotypes are useful to identify colorectal cancer subgroups with different prognoses.

Published 5 December 2006 in Am J Clin Pathol, 127(1): 114-23.
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