Expression of c-myc protein was studied immunohistochemically in colorectal cancers using a monoclonal antibody, MYC-1. Immunoblotting assays with cellular lysates demonstrated a band of the gene products at the level of 60 kDa. c-myc-protein-positive tumor cells were observed in 43 (43.4%) of 99 specimens of colorectal cancers. There was no significant correlation between the incidence of MYC-1-positive tumors and clinicopathological findings. The rate of MYC-1 proteins occurring in patients with liver metastasis was significantly higher than that in patients without the metastasis. The rate of occurrence of DNA polymerase-alpha-positive cells in MYC-1 protein-positive tumors was significantly higher than in MYC-1 negative ones. The results suggested that MYC-1 immunoreactivity might possibly be a useful prognostic marker of colorectal cancers.