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. 2013 Apr;34(2):1013-20.
doi: 10.1007/s13277-012-0638-2. Epub 2013 Jan 18.

High intratumoral expression of fibroblast activation protein (FAP) in colon cancer is associated with poorer patient prognosis

Maria L Wikberg  1 , Sofia Edin, Ida V Lundberg, Bethany Van Guelpen, Anna M Dahlin, Jörgen Rutegård, Roger Stenling, Ake Oberg, Richard Palmqvist
Affiliations

High intratumoral expression of fibroblast activation protein (FAP) in colon cancer is associated with poorer patient prognosis

Maria L Wikberg et al. Tumour Biol. 2013 Apr.

Abstract

An active stroma is important for cancer cell invasion and metastasis. We investigated the expression of fibroblast activation protein (FAP) in relation to patient prognosis in colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer specimens from 449 patients were immunohistochemically stained with a FAP antibody and evaluated in the tumor center and tumor front using a semiquantitative four-level scale. FAP was expressed by fibroblasts in 85-90 % of the tumors examined. High versus no/low expression in the tumor center was associated with poor prognosis (multivariate hazard ratio, HR = 1.72; 95 % CI 1.07-2.77, p = 0.025). FAP expression in the tumor front, though more frequent than in the tumor center, was not associated with prognosis. FAP expression in the tumor center was more common in specimens with positive microsatellite instability (MSI) screening status and in patients with high CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) status. However, inclusion of MSI screening status and CIMP status in the multivariate analysis strengthened the risk estimates for high FAP expression in the tumor center (HR = 1.89; 95 % CI 1.13-3.14; p = 0.014), emphasizing the role of FAP as an independent prognostic factor. Stromal FAP expression is common in colorectal cancer, and we conclude that high FAP expression in the tumor center, but not the tumor front, is an independent negative prognostic factor.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Representative examples of FAP immunohistochemical staining of stromal cells in colorectal cancers. a Low (+) staining in the tumor center, b strong (+++) staining in the tumor center, c low (+) staining in the tumor front, d strong (+++) staining in the tumor front
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Cancer-specific survival according to FAP expression in fibroblasts in: a CRC patients evaluated at the tumor center, b CRC patients evaluated at the tumor front, c colon cancer patients evaluated at the tumor center, d rectal cancer patients evaluated at the tumor center
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Cancer-specific survival analysis according to FAP expression in fibroblasts in the tumor center. a CIMP-negative CRC patients. b CIMP-low CRC patients. c CIMP-high CRC patients. d CIMP-negative colon cancer patients. e CIMP-low colon cancer patients. f CIMP-high colon cancer patients
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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