A Study on Clinical Significance of the Histological Heterogeneity in Colorectal Cancer

Kimiaki Hirama, Takayuki Morita and Mitsuru Konn^*

The Second Department of Surgery, Hirosaki University School of Medicine
^*The Director of the National Health Insurance Kuzukawa Clinic

We studied the clinical significance of histological heterogeneity (the histological combination in a single tumor) in colorectal cancer, and examined immunohistologically the expression of urokinase-type plasminogen acticator (uPA). The patients were less than 75 years, and had undergone curative surgery for advanved colorectal cancer. Their cases were investigated for the relation between histological heterogeneity and clinicopathological factors, and the influence on disease free 5-year survival rate and recurrent form. Furthermore, uPA expression was examined immunohistologically. The positive cases of histological heterogeneity showed poor prognoses in disease free 5-year survival rate. Histological heterogeneity related to local recurrence in colon cancer. UPA showed no significance in relation to histological heterogeneity. We speculated that the histological heterogeneity reflected biological malignancy of tumors and proved to be an important prognosis detecting factor.

Key words
colorectal cancer, histological heterogeneity, urokinase-type plasminogen acticator (uPA), prognosis detecting factor

Reprint requests
Kimiaki Hirama The Second Department of Surgery, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, 5 Zaifu-cho, Hirosaki-shi, 036-8562 JAPAN

Accepted
January 26, 2000

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