Expression of Angiopoietin-2 and Its Clinical Significance in Colorectal Carcinoma

Objective: To study the expression of Angiopoietin-2(Ang-2) protein in colorectal carcinoma and evaluate the relationship between Ang-2 protein level and clinical parameters.Methods: Expression of Ang-2 was examined in 40 colorectal carcinoma and adjacent normal tissues by immunohistochemical technique.Results: The positive rate of Ang-2 protein was significantly higher in colorectal carcinoma than in normal tissues(77.5% vs 40%,P0.01).Neither patients' gender nor age correlated with the expression level of Ang-2(both P0.05).No correlations were found between the expression level of Ang-2 and the site,size or histological differentiation of colorectal carcinoma(P0.05).The expression level of Ang-2 in colorectal carcinoma with lymph node metastasis was not different from that without lymph node metastasis(P0.05).The positive rate of Ang-2 protein was higher in projecting carcinoma of colorectum than in ulcerative carcinoma of colorectum(P0.01),was lower in colorectal carcinoma of Dukes'A stage than that of Dukes'D stage(P0.01),and was higher in colorectal carcinoma with metastasis from blood vessels than that without metastasis from blood vessels(P0.05).The deeper extent of infiltrating,the higher,the Ang-2 positive rate was(P0.01).Conclusion: The expression level of Ang-2 protein might be related to the shape of colorectal carcinoma,invasion ability,blood vessel metastasis and Dukes' staging in colorectal carcinoma.It is suggested that high expression of Ang-2 protein may play an important role in the progression and metastasis of colorectal carcinoma.