Prognostic Value of Nuclear β-catenin Overexpression at Invasive Front in Colorectal Cancer for Synchronous Liver Metastasis

beta-catenin plays an important role in colorectal tumorigenesis. Relatively little is known about the relationship between beta-catenin overexpression and liver metastasis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether nuclear beta-catenin overexpression in colorectal cancer is associated with synchronous liver metastasis. The beta-catenin expression in tumor tissue from 486 patients with colorectal cancer was examined by immunohistochemistry. The relationship between nuclear beta-catenin expression in colorectal cancers and liver metastatic lesions and other clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. Univariate analysis and logistic multivariate regression analysis were adopted to discriminate risk factors of liver metastasis. Nuclear beta-catenin overexpression at the invasive front of the primary tumor in patients with liver metastasis is more evident than that in patients without liver metastasis (71.5% vs. 29.3%; P < 0.001). Nuclear beta-catenin expression in primary tumors had a positive correlation with that in the matched metastatic lesions (r = 0.499, P < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that overexpression of nuclear beta-catenin at the invasive front in colorectal cancer correlated with liver metastasis. Overexpression of nuclear beta-catenin at the invasive front in colorectal cancer is strongly associated with liver metastasis and may be a promising predictor of liver metastasis.