2007 Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 19-25
Maspin expression was examined immunohistochemically in 127 patients with colonic adenomas and in 95 patients with early colon cancer (43 with mucosal cancer [m cancer] and 52 with submucosal invasive cancer [sm cancer] ) . The rate of maspin expression was high in patients with adenoma (mild atypia : 83%, moderate atypia : 88.2%, and severe atypia : 92.7%) and in those with mucosal cancer (88.4%) . Although maspin expression was also observed in > 50% of patients with submucosal invasive cancer (65.4%), this rate was significantly lower than in those for adenoma and mucosal cancer. An investigation of the relationship between maspin expression and clinicopathological factors in patients with submucosal invasive cancer showed that those with low maspin expression had significantly higher rates of lymphoduct invasion than those with high maspin expression. A high expression of maspin was observed in protruded-type, flat-type, and depressed-type megascopic tumor forms at rates of 80.8%, 53.8%, and 46.1%, respectively, showing a significant difference between the protruded and depressed types. Maspin expression also varied between the surface layer and the infiltrated region. Collectively, these findings implicated maspin in the early stages of colon cancer, and the different expression between megascopic forms might reflect the various types of colon cancer. Maspin may therefore be a useful prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target.
