PURPOSE Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) play a variety of roles in both neuronal and nonneuronal cells. Recently, we reported that mGluR4 mediates 5-fluorouracil resistance in a human colon cancer cell line. In this study, we evaluated the nonneural expression of mGluR4 and clarified the existence of mGluR4 in normal colon epithelium and colorectal carcinomas. We also investigated the ...

A newly developed autofluorescence (AF) imaging technique was applied during colonoscopy in a clinical setting. This pilot study was conducted to evaluate the clinical feasibility of applying AF endoscopy for distinguishing colorectal lesions. A total of 54 colorectal mucosal lesions obtained from 43 patients who underwent both white-light and AF endoscopy and were treated by endoscopy or surger...

HYPOTHESIS Stage I or II colorectal carcinomas with microsatellite instability (MSI) are characterized by more isolated lymph nodes in the resected specimen than their counterparts with microsatellite stability (MSS). DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Academic research. PATIENTS Using a pentaplex polymerase chain reaction assay, MSI status was determined prospectively for 135 operative pa...

AIMS To investigate whether the three different AP-2 isoforms are expressed differently in colorectal adenomas and carcinomas. METHODS The study comprised 43 randomly selected patients diagnosed and treated at Kuopio University Hospital in 1996 for colorectal adenocarcinoma (n = 30) and colorectal adenoma (n = 13). The expression of AP-2alpha, AP-2beta, and AP-2gamma was analysed by immunohis...

Background: Persistent infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types-16 and -18 is an established cause of cervical and other cancers. Some studies report detection of oncogenic HPV DNA in colorectal carcinomas, with prevalence estimates as high as 84%. However, other studies report detecting no HPV DNA in colorectal tumors. Methods: To evaluate the prevalence of HPV in colorectal c...

BACKGROUND p53 mutations are frequently observed in colorectal carcinomas but they have also been found in colorectal adenomas, although considerably less frequently. AIMS To explore p53 mutations in benign tumours, we have screened 70 colorectal adenomas for allelic loss at, and point mutations in, TP53 by analysis of selected microdissected cell populations. RESULTS Sixteen (22.8%) adenom...

PURPOSE The increased expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 has been implicated in the development and progression of human cancer. This study investigated the COX-2 expression in colorectal cancer, and its relationships with tumor angiogenesis and the clinicopathological factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS The expression of the COX-2 protein and microvessel density were evaluated, using immunohist...

BACKGROUND There are no established reports about the expression of the Piwil gene, a subfamily of the Piwi gene involved in RNA silencing and self-renewal, in colorectal carcinomas. It is known that the degree of PIWIL2 expression is higher in colorectal carcinomas. But its clinicopathologic significance remains undetermined. This study reassessed the relationship between PIWIL2 expression and...

The ERas oncogene is a recently identified gene that supports the tumorigenic growth of embryonic stem (ES) cells by producing a constitutively active Ras protein. However the expression of ERas in cancer cells remains unclear. In this study, ERas mRNA expression was examined in 20 human cancer cell lines and 5 normal cell lines. ERas mRNA was found in 4 out of 7 colorectal carcinomas, 2 out of...

The clinicopathological roles of aurora kinase protein have not been studied in depth in colorectal cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinicopathological roles of aurora kinase protein expression in a large cohort of patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma with tight methodology and close follow-up. Aurora kinase protein expression was investigated in 200 patients (110...