Background and objectives: The calcium-binding protein S100A4 promotes tumor progression and metastasis. We investigated the expression of S100A4 in colorectal cancer and its clinicopathologic significance in colorectal cancer.
Methods: A total of 526 colorectal cancer patients were examined for S100A4 protein by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarrays. S100A4 mRNA was subsequently investigated by in situ hybridization.
Results: S100A4 protein was expressed in various cell types including tumor cells, but S100A4 mRNA was only expressed in tumor cells. Cytoplasmic expression of S100A4 protein was seen in 127 (24.1%) of 526 tumors and significantly correlated with older age, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and worse overall survival. Nuclear expression of S100A4 protein was observed in 136 (25.9%) tumors and significantly related to the depth of invasion, perineural invasion, and worse overall survival. However, there was no correlation between S100A4 mRNA expression and clinicopathological parameters. Upon multivariate analysis nuclear expression of S100A4 protein was found to be an independent prognostic factor of poor survival.
Conclusions: Expression of S100A4 protein in colorectal cancers may indicate tumor progression and lymph node metastasis and can be useful for prediction of overall survival of patients with colorectal cancers.
Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.