amphiregulin and epiregulin mrna expression in primary colorectal cancer and corresponding liver metastasesamphiregulin和epiregulin mrna表达原发性结直肠癌和相应肝脏转移.pdfVIP

Kuramochi et al. BMC Cancer 2012, 12:88 /1471-2407/12/88 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Amphiregulin and Epiregulin mRNA expression in primary colorectal cancer and corresponding liver metastases 1* 1 2 2 2 2 Hidekazu Kuramochi , Go Nakajima , Yuka Kaneko , Ayako Nakamura , Yuji Inoue , Masakazu Yamamoto and Kazuhiko Hayashi1 Abstract Background: Amphiregulin (AREG) and Epiregulin (EREG), ligands of EGFR, are reported to be predictive biomarkers of colorectal cancer patients treated with Cetuximab, an anti-EGFR antibody. The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation of AREG and EREG expression between primary colorectal cancer and corresponding liver metastases. Methods: One hundred twenty colorectal cancer patients with liver metastases (100 with synchronous metastases, 20 with metachronous) were evaluated. No patients had ever received anti-EGFR antibody agents. AREG and EREG mRNA expression from both the primary tumor and liver metastases were measured using real-time RT-PCR. KRAS codon 12, 13 mutation status was analyzed by direct sequencing. Results: Modest, but significant, correlations were observed between primary tumor and corresponding liver metastases in both AREG mRNA expression (Rs = 0.54, p 0.0001) and EREG mRNA expression (Rs = 0.58, p 0.0001). AREG and EREG mRNA expression was strongly correlated in both the primary tumor (Rs = 0.81, p 0.0001) and the liver metastases (Rs = 0.87, p 0.0001). No significant survival difference was observed between low and high AREG or EREG patients when all 120 patients were analyzed. However, when divided by KRAS status, KRAS wild-type patients with low EREG mRNA levels in the primary site showed significant