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Possible contribution of CD44 variant 6 and nuclear β‐catenin expression to the formation of budding tumor cells in patients with T1 colorectal carcinoma
Author(s) -
Masaki Tadahiko,
Goto Akiteru,
Sugiyama Masanori,
Matsuoka Hiroyoshi,
Abe Nobutsugu,
Sakamoto Atsuhiko,
Atomi Yutaka
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(20011115)92:10<2539::aid-cncr1605>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - tumor budding , colorectal cancer , pathology , medicine , immunostaining , h&e stain , lymph node , cd44 , catenin , metastasis , immunohistochemistry , cancer research , biology , cancer , wnt signaling pathway , lymph node metastasis , gene , in vitro , biochemistry
BACKGROUND In an earlier study, the authors demonstrated that tumor budding was useful for predicting lymph node metastasis in patients with early invasive (T1) colorectal carcinoma. This study was undertaken to clarify the associations between tumor budding, E‐cadherin‐catenin complex, and CD44 variant 6 abnormalities. METHODS In 51 T1 colorectal carcinomas, tumor budding (the number of dedifferentiation units at the invasive margin) on hematoxylin and eosin‐stained slides was counted under light microscopy. Immunostaining for E‐cadherin, α‐catenin, β‐catenin, and CD44 variant 6 was performed on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections. The associations between locoregional failure (lymph node metastasis or local recurrence) and tumor budding and clinicopathologic parameters and immunoreactivity were examined statistically. RESULTS In univariate analysis, tumor budding and nuclear β‐catenin expression were associated significantly with locoregional failure ( P = 0.004, 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that tumor budding alone was associated significantly with locoregional failure ( P = 0.02), and the association between nuclear β‐catenin expression and locoregional failure was marginally significant ( P = 0.07). Analysis of variance showed that lymphatic invasion alone was associated significantly with tumor budding ( P = 0.02), and there was a significant interaction effect for tumor budding between CD44 variant 6 expression and nuclear β‐catenin expression ( P = 0.01). There was a significant correlation between expression patterns of these two molecules and locoregional failure ( P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The current results suggest that the up‐regulation of CD44 variant 6 through nuclear β‐catenin activation may contribute to the formation of tumor budding, and immunostaining of these two adhesion molecules may be useful in identifying those at high‐risk for locoregional failure among patients with T1 colorectal carcinoma. Cancer 2001;92:2539–46. © 2001 American Cancer Society.