1. ¹Division of Pathology, CRO-National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
2. ²Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Via G. Ripamonti, Milano 435 I-20141, Italy
3. ³Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, Via G. Ripamonti, Milano 435 I-20141, Italy
4. ⁴Division of General Surgery, European Institute of Oncology, Via G. Ripamonti, Milano 435 I-20141, Italy
5. ⁵Division of Medical Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Via G. Ripamonti, Milano 435 I-20141, Italy
6. ⁶Institute of Pathology, University of Verona, Istituti Biologici, Strada Le Grazie 8-3714, Verona 37134, Italy
7. ⁷University of Milan School of Medicine, Milan, Italy

Correspondence: Dr G Pelosi, Divisione di Anatomia Patologica e Medicina di Laboratorio, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, Via G. Ripamonti, 435, I-20141 Milano, Italy. E-mail: giuseppe.pelosi@ieo.it

Received 2 December 2006; Revised 29 January 2007; Accepted 20 February 2007; Published online 20 March 2007.

Abstract

Fascin, an actin-bundling protein involved in cell motility, has been shown to be upregulated in several types of carcinomas. In this study, we investigated the expression of fascin in 228 advanced colonic adenocarcinoma patients with a long follow-up. Fascin expression was compared with several clinicopathologic parameters and survival. Overall, fascin immunoreactivity was detected in 162 (71%) tumours with a prevalence for right-sided tumours (P<0.001). Fascin correlated significantly with sex, tumour grade and stage, mucinous differentiation, number of metastatic lymph nodes, extranodal tumour extension, and the occurrence of distant metastases. Patients with fascin-expressing tumours experienced a shorter disease-free and overall survival in comparison with those with negative tumours, and fascin immunoreactivity emerged as an independent prognostic factor in the multivariate analysis. Moreover, patients with the same tumour stages could be stratified in different risk categories for relapse and progression according to fascin expression. Our findings suggest that fascin is a useful prognostic marker for colonic adenocarcinomas.