Expression and significance of P73 protein in colorectal cancer

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of P73 in colorectal carcinoma. Methods The expression of P73 in 92 cases of colorectal carcinoma tissue, 10 cases of colorectal polypous adenoma tissues, 34 cases of lymph node metastasis, 16 cases of liver metastasis, and 10 cases of normal colorectal tissues were measured by PV immunohistochemical approach. Results The positive rates of P73 in colorectal carcinoma, polypous adenoma tissues, normal colorectal tissue, lymph node metastasis, and liver metastasis were 76%, 40%, 10%, 71%, and 75% respectively. There was significant difference of P73 between colorectal carcinoma and polypous adenoma tissues or normal colorectal tissues (P 0.05). The expression of P73 was significantly correlated with Dukes′ classification, differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and liver metastasis (P 0.05), but was not related to sex, age, tumor size, tumor location, and differentiation (P 0.05). Conclusions P73 is correlated with tumorgenesis, progression, invasion, and metastasis of colorectal carcinoma, and may be an index for predicting colorectal carcinoma prognosis.