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 β-catenin and cyclin D1 expression in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patients. Method: We evaluated immunohistochemial expression of β-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 β-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 β-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, β-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 β-catenin and cyclin D1 is associated with favorable clinicopathologic variables and it is a clinically significant prognostic indicator for CRC patients.