TY - JOUR
T1 - Expression of the proto-oncogene c-KIT in normal and tumor tissues from colorectal carcinoma patients
AU - Sammarco, Innocenzo
AU - Capurso, Gabriele
AU - Coppola, Luigi
AU - Bonifazi, Antonio Paniccià
AU - Cassetta, Sara
AU - Delle Fave, Gianfranco
AU - Carrara, Alessandro
AU - Grassi, Giovanni Battista
AU - Rossi, Pellegrino
AU - Sette, Claudio
AU - Geremia, Raffaele
PY - 2004/11
Y1 - 2004/11
N2 - Background and aims: The proto-oncogene c-KIT encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor essential during embryonic development and postnatal life. Although deregulated expression of c-KIT has been reported, its role in colorectal carcinoma remains controversial: some authors have described a correlation between c-KIT expression and colorectal cancer (CRC), while others have failed to detect the receptor in the majority of neoplasia examined. To address this question, we designed a prospective study to analyze the expression of c-KIT in normal and neoplastic colonic mucosa of the same patient. Patients and methods: We analyzed the tissues of 20 patients undergoing surgical resection for colorectal carcinoma by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot and immunohisto-chemistry, whose results were correlated with histopathological parameters. Results: Most patients (90%) showed c-KIT expression in normal tissue both at RNA and protein level, while in neoplastic tissue it was observed in 30% of patients at RNA level and in 10% at protein level. By immunohistochemistry the localization of c-KIT protein in the normal colon was restricted to interstitial cells scattered in the stroma, whereas the non-neoplastic epithelium was always negative. The mucinous carcinomas were all c-KIT negative, whereas the only case in which c-KIT was displayed in the neoplastic epithelium was a G3 adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: Most colorectal carcinomas do not express c-KIT. We suggest that c-KIT expression is rarely present in this neoplasia; thus, the use of receptor inhibitors should be conducted in selected sub-groups of colon carcinoma patients, subsequent to the clear demonstration of c-KIT overexpression in the neoplastic cells.
AB - Background and aims: The proto-oncogene c-KIT encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor essential during embryonic development and postnatal life. Although deregulated expression of c-KIT has been reported, its role in colorectal carcinoma remains controversial: some authors have described a correlation between c-KIT expression and colorectal cancer (CRC), while others have failed to detect the receptor in the majority of neoplasia examined. To address this question, we designed a prospective study to analyze the expression of c-KIT in normal and neoplastic colonic mucosa of the same patient. Patients and methods: We analyzed the tissues of 20 patients undergoing surgical resection for colorectal carcinoma by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot and immunohisto-chemistry, whose results were correlated with histopathological parameters. Results: Most patients (90%) showed c-KIT expression in normal tissue both at RNA and protein level, while in neoplastic tissue it was observed in 30% of patients at RNA level and in 10% at protein level. By immunohistochemistry the localization of c-KIT protein in the normal colon was restricted to interstitial cells scattered in the stroma, whereas the non-neoplastic epithelium was always negative. The mucinous carcinomas were all c-KIT negative, whereas the only case in which c-KIT was displayed in the neoplastic epithelium was a G3 adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: Most colorectal carcinomas do not express c-KIT. We suggest that c-KIT expression is rarely present in this neoplasia; thus, the use of receptor inhibitors should be conducted in selected sub-groups of colon carcinoma patients, subsequent to the clear demonstration of c-KIT overexpression in the neoplastic cells.
KW - c-KIT
KW - Colorectal cancer
KW - Tyrosine kinases
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=7444269880&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=7444269880&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00384-004-0601-9
DO - 10.1007/s00384-004-0601-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 15133698
AN - SCOPUS:7444269880
VL - 19
SP - 545
EP - 553
JO - International Journal of Colorectal Disease
JF - International Journal of Colorectal Disease
SN - 0179-1958
IS - 6
ER -