Leukemia-related protein 16 and colorectal carcinoma

A research team from China investigated the expression of leukemia-related protein 16 (LRP16) in colorectal cancer and normal mucosas and possible relationship between LRP16 expression and clinicopathological variables. Their study showed that the expression of LRP16 is related to the degree of differentiation, invasiveness, metastasis and prognosis of colorectal carcinoma.

Leukemia related protein 16 (LRP16) gene is an important estrogen-responsive gene. LRP16 gene plays an important role in the carcinogenesis and progression of hormone-dependent cancer. LRP16 expression was also reported to be associated with invasion, metastasis and prognosis of gastric carcinoma. But no comprehensive description of LRP16 protein expression in colorectal cancer has been reported.

A research article to be published on April 7, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by Dr. Zhao from Department of Pathology, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, investigated the expression patterns of LRP16 protein in human colorectal cancers and compared the clinical and pathological variables including survival time of the patients.

Their results showed a significant association between high LRP16 expression in colorectal cancer and early disease progression or the disease related death. The researchers believe that the LRP16 expression status detected by immunohistochemistry may be a molecular marker to predict the prognosis of colorectal carcinoma patients.