BRAIN-SPECIFIC ANGIOGENESIS INHIBITOR-1 EXPRESSION IS INVERSELY CORRELATED WITH VASCULARITY AND DISTANT METASTASIS OF COLORECTAL-CANCER

Brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor (BAI) 1 was recently isolated as a novel p53 inducible gene. BAI1 has been suggested to play a signifi cant role in angiostasis. We studied the expression of BAIL in 49 colo rectal cancer specimens by RT-PCR; BAI1 expression was significantly r educed in colorectal cancers as compared to the extra-neoplastic tissu es (chi(2) test, p=0.041). BAIL expression was inversely correlated wi th vascular invasion and metastasis (Fisher's exact test, p less than or equal to 0.045). Moreover, vascularity in the colorectal cancer was inversely correlated with BAI1 gene expression (Mann-Whitney U-test, p=0.0003). These observations suggested that BAI1 expression might inh ibit angiogenesis and metastasis of colorectal cancer.