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World J Gastroenterol. Nov 7, 2007; 13(41): 5476-5480
Published online Nov 7, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i41.5476
Neural cell adhesion molecule-180 expression as a prognostic criterion in colorectal carcinoma: Feasible or not?
Oge Tascilar, Güldeniz Karadeniz Cakmak, Ishak Ozel Tekin, Ali Ugur Emre, Bulent Hamdi Ucan, Oktay Irkorucu, Kemal Karakaya, Mesut Gül, Hüseyin Bülent Engin, Mustafa Comert
Oge Tascilar, Güldeniz Karadeniz Cakmak, Ali Ugur Emre, Bulent Hamdi Ucan, Oktay Irkorucu, Kemal Karakaya, Mesut Gül, Mustafa Comert, Department of Surgery, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, The School of Medicine, Kozlu-Zonguldak 67600, Turkey
Ishak Ozel Tekin, Department of Immunology, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, The School of Medicine, Kozlu-Zonguldak 67600, Turkey
Hüseyin Bülent Engin, Department of Medical Oncology, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, The School of Medicine, Kozlu-Zonguldak 67600, Turkey
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Güldeniz Karadeniz Cakmak, Zonguldak Karaelmas Universitesi, Arastirma ve Uygulama Hastanesi Bashekimligi, Kozlu-Zonguldak 67600, Turkey. gkkaradeniz@yahoo.com
Telephone: +90-372-2610169 Fax: +90-372-2610155
Received: June 29, 2007
Revised: August 4, 2007
Accepted: September 4, 2007
Published online: November 7, 2007
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the frequency of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)-180 expression in fresh tumor tissue samples and to discuss the prognostic value of NCAM-180 in routine clinical practice.

METHODS: Twenty-six patients (16 men, 10 women) with colorectal cancer were included in the study. Fresh tumor tissue samples and macroscopically healthy proximal margins of each specimen were subjected to flow-cytometric analysis for NCAM-180 expression.

RESULTS: Flow-cytometric analysis determined NCAM-180 expression in whole tissue samples of macroscopically healthy colorectal tissues. However, NCAM-180 expression was positive in only one case (3.84%) with well-differentiated Stage II disease who experienced no active disease at 30 mon follow-up.

CONCLUSION: As a consequence of the limited number of cases in our series, it might not be possible to make a generalisation, nevertheless the routine use of NCAM-180 expression as a prognostic marker for colorectal carcinoma seems to be unfeasible and not cost-effective in clinical practice due to its very low incidence.

Keywords: Neural cell adhesion molecule-180, Colorectal cancer, Prognosis, Flow-cytometry