Brief Articles
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World J Gastroenterol. May 14, 2009; 15(18): 2258-2264
Published online May 14, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.2258
Cancer stem cell markers CD133 and CD24 correlate with invasiveness and differentiation in colorectal adenocarcinoma
Dongho Choi, Hyo Won Lee, Kyung Yul Hur, Jae Joon Kim, Gyeong-Sin Park, Si-Hyong Jang, Young Soo Song, Ki-Seok Jang, Seung Sam Paik
Dongho Choi, Kyung Yul Hur, Jae Joon Kim, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, 140-743 Seoul, South Korea
Hyo Won Lee, Department of Surgery, Chi Hang Hospital, 140-741 Seoul, South Korea
Gyeong-Sin Park, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Catholic University, 137-040 Seoul, South Korea
Si-Hyong Jang, Young Soo Song, Ki-Seok Jang, Seung Sam Paik, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, 133-790 Seoul, South Korea
Author contributions: Choi D and Lee HW contributed equally to this work; Choi D and Lee HW designed the study and wrote the manuscript; Hur KY and Kim JJ were involved in editing the manuscript; Park GS provided vital reagents; Jang SH and Jang KS provided all the human material, and performed the majority of the experiments and statistical analysis of the data; Song YS and Paik SS interpreted the immunohistochemical results.
Correspondence to: Seung Sam Paik, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea. sspaik@hanyang.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-2-22908252
Fax: +82-2-22967502
Received: January 17, 2009
Revised: February 7, 2009
Accepted: February 14, 2009
Published online: May 14, 2009
Abstract

AIM: To verify that CD markers are available for detecting cancer stem cell populations and to evaluate their clinical significance in colon cancer.

METHODS: Immunohistochemistry for CD133, CD24 and CD44 was performed on the tissue microarray of 523 colorectal adenocarcinomas. Medical records were reviewed and clinicopathological analysis was performed.

RESULTS: In colorectal adenocarcinoma, 128 of 523 cases (24.5%) were positive and 395 cases (75.5%) were negative for CD133 expression. Two hundred and sixty-four of 523 cases (50.5%) were positive and 259 cases (49.5%) were negative for CD24 expression. Five hundred and two of 523 cases (96%) were negative and 21 cases (4%) were positive for CD44 expression. Upon clinicopathological analysis, CD133 expression was present more in male patients (P = 0.002) and in advanced T stage cancer (P = 0.024). Correlation between CD24 expression and clinicopathological factors was seen in the degree of differentiation (P = 0.006). Correlation between CD44 expression and clinicopathological factors was seen in the tumor size (P = 0.001). Survival was not significantly related to CD133, CD24 and CD44 expression.

CONCLUSION: CD markers were related to invasiveness and differentiation of colorectal adenocarcinoma. However, CD expression was not closely related to survival.

Keywords: CD133, CD24, CD44, Colon cancer stem cells, Colorectal adenocarcinoma