Fig. 1Immunohistochemical staining of cortactin (A-E) and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) (F-J) in microarray tissues of normal colorectal mucosa and colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC). Tissue microarray (TMA) slide (A, F) is represented by one core of normal colorectal mucosa (N) and two cores of CRC (T). Most normal colorectal mucosas are negative for cortactin (A, B) and FAK (F, G). Some normal colorectal mucosas are positive for cortactin (C) and FAK (H), however, the intensity of cytoplasmic expression is weak to moderate. Some CRCs are negative for cortactin (A, D) and FAK (F, I), whereas most are positive for cortactin (E) and FAK (J) with more intense staining than those of normal colorectal mucosas. Note the expression of FAK on peritumoral blood vessels (J, arrows).
Fig. 2Kaplan-Meier survival curves for overall survival in colorectal adenocarcinomas (CRCs) (A-D). Patients' age over 60 yr (A), advanced pathologic stage (B), preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level over 5.0 ng/mL (C) and cortactin expression (D) predict poor overall survival. Kaplan-Meier survival curves for relapse-free survival in CRCs (E-H). Tumor size larger than 4.3 cm (E), advanced pathologic stage (F), preoperative CEA level over 5.0 ng/mL (G) and cortactin expression (H) predict poor relapse-free survival.
Table 1Expressions of cortactin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in normal colorectal epithelium and colorectal adenocarcinoma
Table 2Correlation of cortactin and FAK expression and clinicopathologic variables
Table 3Univariate cox regression analysis of overall and relapse-free survival according to the clinicopathologic parameters and the expression of cortactin or FAK
Table 4Multivariate cox regression analysis of overall and relapse-free survival according to the clinicopathologic parameters and cortactin expression