Neural cell adhesion molecule-180 expression as a prognostic criterion in colorectal carcinoma:Feasible or not?

AIM: To evaluate the frequency of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)-180 expression in fresh tumor tissue samples and to discuss the prognostic value of NCAM-180 in routine clinical practice. METHODS: Twenty-six patients (16 men,10 women) with colorectal cancer were included in the study. Fresh tumor tissue samples and macroscopically healthy proximal margins of each specimen were subjected to flow-cytometric analysis for NCAM-180 expression. RESULTS: Flow-cytometric analysis determined NCAM-180 expression in whole tissue samples of macroscopically healthy colorectal tissues. However,NCAM-180 expression was positive in only one case (3.84%) with well-differentiated Stage Ⅱ?disease who experienced no active disease at 30 mon follow-up. CONCLUSION: As a consequence of the limited number of cases in our series,it might not be possible to make a generalisation,nevertheless the routine use of NCAM-180 expression as a prognostic marker for colorectal carcinoma seems to be unfeasible and not cost-effective in clinical practice due to its very low incidence.