Down-regulation of p27 is associated with development of colorectal adenocarcinoma metastases

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 is a negative regulator of the cell cycle and a potential tumor suppressor gene. Because we had previously demonstrated that loss of p27 protein is associated with aggressive behavior in colorectal adenocarcinomas, we used immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to evaluate the potential role of alterations in p27 expression in primary and metastatic colorectal adenocarcinomas. Parallel immunostaining was performed for Ki-67 and p53. We evaluated 13 cases of metachronous and 23 cases of synchronous primary and metastatic colorectal tumor pairs. In the synchronous subgroup (Stage IV tumors), 57% of the primary tumor and metastases pairs did not express p27 protein and the remainder were low expressors. In the metachronous subgroup, 54% of the primary tumors were low expressors and the remainder high expressors of p27 protein. There was a significant reduction in the expression of p27 in the metachronous metastases (mean positive cells: 14.5%) when compared to the corresponding primary tumors (mean positive cells: 41.8%), P = 0.0023. All the primary and metastatic tumors in the metachronous subgroup showed high levels of p27 mRNA expression. There was no association between loss of p27 and either Ki-67 count or p53 expression. Because p27 is known to be up-regulated when epithelial cells are grown in suspension, the down-regulation of p27 in circulating tumor cells may confer the ability to grow in an environment of altered extracellular matrix or intercellular adhesion properties, two situations which may facilitate metastases.