Is there a genetic signature for liver metastasis in colorectal cancer?

Table 2 Proteins related to liver metastasis formation and their function, and their differential expression when comparing primary tumors and liver metastasis by immunohistochemical technique

Proteins related to liver metastasis formation	Function	Liver expression compared to primary tumor (IHC)
E-Cadherin	Adhesion	Down-regulated[34]
Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EpCAM)	Adhesion	NA
P-Selectin and L-Selectin	Adhesion	NA
Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA)	Adhesion	NA
Integrin αvβ5	Adhesion, Survival	NA
sLex and sLea	Adhesion	Up-regulated[48,51]
Osteopontin (OPN)	Adhesion, Survival, Motility	Up-regulated[63]
Intracellular Adhesion Molecule (ICAM-1)	Adhesion	NA
Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule (VCAM-1)	Adhesion	NA
CD44v6	Adhesion	NA
Cathepsine B	Invasion	NA
MMP-7	Invasion	Up-regulated[81]
MMP-2 and MMP-9	Invasion	Up-regulated[86]
Angiopoietin	Angiogenesis	Up-regulated[110]
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor	Growth	Equal[125]
Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor (uPAR)	Invasion, Motility, Dormancy	NA
Vascular endotelial Growth Factor (VEGF)	Angiogenesis	Equal[109]
Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1)	Angiogenesis	NA
Angiostatin	Angiogenesis	NA
Endostatin	Angiogenesis	NA
Thimidine Phosphorylase (dThdPase or PDECGF)	Angiogenesis	NA
c-erb-2	Growth	NA
c-Src/β-Arrestin 1	Growth	NA
FAS Receptor (CD95)	Apoptosis	Down-regulated[134]
TRAIL Receptors (-R1, -R2, -R3 and -R4)	Apoptosis	NA
Nm23-H1 and Nm23-H2	Metastasis Suppresor Genes	NA
PRL-3	Motility, Extravasation	Up-regulated[157]

NA: Not available.