Expression of Cyclin D1 Is Associated with β-Catenin Expression and Correlates with Good Prognosis in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence and prognostic impact of beta-catenin and cyclin D1 expression in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patients. METHOD: We evaluated immunohistochemial expression of beta-catenin and cyclin D1 using 2-mm cores from 220 CRC patients for tissue microarray, and its significance was statistically evaluated. RESULT: Positive expression of beta-catenin and cyclin D1 was found in 72.5%(158 of 218 cases) and 59.4% (129 of 217 cases) of CRC patients, respectively. Expression of beta-catenin was significantly correlated with tumor location (P=.017), differentiation (P=.010), lymph node metastasis (P=.032), preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level (P=.032), and cyclin D1 expression (P=.005). Expression of cyclin D1 was significantly correlated with recurrence and/or metastasis (P=.004). In univariate analysis, beta-catenin expression predicted more favorable overall survival (P=.022) and cyclin D1 expression predicted both more favorable overall survival and relapse-free survival (P=.004 and P=.006, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that tumor stage and expression of cyclin D1 were independent prognostic factors significantly associated with overall survival and relapse-free survival. CONCLUSION: This study shows that expression of beta-catenin and cyclin D1 is associated with favorable clinicopathologic variables and it is a clinically significant prognostic indicator for CRC patients.