Brief Reports
Copyright ©2005 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2005; 11(23): 3640-3643
Published online Jun 21, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i23.3640
Detection of lymph nodes micrometastases in Dukes’ A and B colorectal cancer using anti-cytokeratin antibodies AE1/AE3
Zhi-Wei Zhou, Nick Rieger, Andrew Ruszkiewicz, Guo-Qiang Wang, De-Sen Wan
Zhi-Wei Zhou, Guo-Qiang Wang, De-Sen Wan, Department of Abdominal Surgery, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China
Nick Rieger, Department of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, Queen Elizabeth Hospital 5011, Adelaide, Australia
Andrew Ruszkiewicz, Department of Tissue Pathology, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, 5000, Adelaide, Australia
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Zhi-Wei Zhou, Department of Abdominal Surgery, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China. zhouzhiw@pub.guangzhou.gd.cn
Telephone: +86-20-87343124 Fax: +86-20-87343392
Received: April 22, 2004
Revised: April 23, 2004
Accepted: May 13, 2004
Published online: June 21, 2005
Abstract

AIM: To detect lymph nodes micrometastases and analyze its correlation with clinicopathological parameters in Dukes’ A and B colorectal cancer patients.

METHODS: One hundred and fourteen patients with colorectal cancer (Dukes’ A 16; Dukes’ B 98) undergoing curative operation without histological lymph nodes metastases were studied between 2001 and 2003. A total of 2 481 lymph nodes were analyzed using monoclonal cytokeratin antibody AE1/AE3 (DAKO, Carpinteria, CA) for immunohist-ochemistry.

RESULTS: In total, 33 (29%) patients were positive for cancer cell by immunohistochemistry. In 31 (94%) patients of them positive nodes showed single tumor cell or small groups of tumor cells; and tumor deposits measuring 0.2 and 0.37 mm in diameter in another 2 (6%) patients. Micrometastases were mainly located in the subcapsular sinus or paracortical sinus. There was no correlation between the positive lymph nodes and gender, age, tumor site, tumor size, histological type, histological grade, invasion depth, Dukes’ staging and microsatellite instability (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that immunohist-ochemical technique using monoclonal cytokeratin antibody AE1/AE3 may be a sensitive and reliable method for detecting lymph nodes micrometastases in Dukes’ A and B colorectal cancer. The clinical significance of lymph nodes microme-tastases is still not confirmed.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Lymph nodes; Micrometastasis; Immunohistochemistry