A. Nanashima et al., RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND AGNORS OR CATHEPSIN-B EXPRESSION IN COLORECTAL CANCERS, Journal of gastroenterology, 31(5), 1996, pp. 646-653
The biological characteristics associated with the morphological diver
sity of colorectal cancers were investigated to elucidate the causes o
f this diversity. We examined the proliferative and infiltrating activ
ity of tumor cells, indicated by the mean number of Ag nucleolar organ
izer region associated proteins (NORs) per nucleus (MNA) and the immun
ohistochemical response to cathepsin B(CB), in various morphological t
ypes of early and advanced colorectal cancers. We examined 73 colorect
al cancers obtained by endoscopic and surgical resection. MNA values f
or sessile and flat-elevated cancers were greater than the values for
pedunculate, subpedunculate, and flat-or-depressed early cancers (sess
ile, P < 0.05). In advanced cancers invading the muscularis propria, p
rotruding cancers showed significantly higher MNA values than small ul
cerative cancers (P < 0.01). CB expression increased significantly wit
h the progression of colorectal cancers (P < 0.01), but was not relate
d to morphological diversity in early and advanced cancers. In both se
ssile and flat cancers, CB expression was higher in moderately differe
ntiated than in well differentiated adenocarcinomas. These results ind
icate that, in colorectal cancers, protruding early cancers without st
alks and protruding advanced cancers have higher proliferative activit
y than pedunculate or flat early cancers and small ulcerative advanced
cancers, respectively, and that CB expression is not associated with
morphological diversity, but with depth of invasion and histological d
ifferentiation.