Increased expression of sialyl Le(X) antigen in non-polypoid growth type of colorectal carcinoma

Colorectal carcinoma can be morphologically divided into two different cate gories, namely polypoid growth (PG-type) and non-polypoid growth (NPG-type) , To ascertain whether the expression of sialyl Le(x) antigen correlates wi th biologically and clinically important differences, an immunohistochemica l assay was performed in 30 PG-type and 119 NPG-type cancers. In contrast t o PG-type, the characteristics of the NPG-type include (1) an increased exp ression of sialyl Le(x); (2) a high rate of lymph node metastasis; (3) a hi gh proportion of moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma cells; (4) young age of onset. It is concluded that differences in sialyl Le(x) expression b etween the PG-type and NPG-type cancers may be at least partly responsible for different tumor progression behavior. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.