The role of c-met gene in the diagnosis of liver metastasis of colorectal carcinoma

Background and purpose:Early diagnosis of liver metastasis is important to the prognosis of colorectal carcinoma.We investigated the expression of c-metprotoncogene(c-met) in colorectal carcinoma,and the correlation with liver metastasis.Methods:The expression of c-met detected by immunohistochemical method in 90 colorectal carcinoma tissues that included the patients without liver metastasis(n=30),with preoperative liver metastasis(n=30) and with post-operative liver metastasis(n=30).30 surrounding normal colorectal tissues also had been evaluated.The multiple parameters like gender,age,Dukes stages and liver metastasis had also been analyzed to clarify the relationship between them and the expression of c-met.Results:The expression level of c-met in colorectal carcinoma was significantly higher than that in surrounding normal colorectal tissue(P0.05).The expression level of c-met in colorectal carcinoma without liver metastasis was significantly lower than that with preoperative liver metastasis(P0.05).There was no significant difference between the group without liver metastasis and the group with post-operative liver metastasis(P0.05).The expression level of c-met had no correlation with gender,age or the preoperative serum CEA and CA19-9 levels in colorectal carcinoma(P0.05).The expression level of c-met had correlation with Dukes stages and lymph node metastasis.Conclusions:c-met might play a role in predicting the prognosis in colorectal carcinoma and further study is needed to clarify the role of cmet in the process of metastasis of colorectal carcinoma.