Objective:To study the expressive levels of PSCA, OCT-4,CD24 and CD44v6 of rectal cancer and peritumoral tissues and their clinicopathological significances.
Methods:EnVisionTM immunohistochemistry for assaying the expressive levels of prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) OCT-4,CD24 and CD44v6 was used in the conventional paraffin-embedded sections from surgical resected specimens of rectal carcinoma (n=50) and peritumoral tissues (n=20).
Results:The positive rates of PSCA, OCT-4,CD24 and CD44v6 were significantly higher in rectal carcinoma than those in peritumoral tissues (all P＜ 0.01) The positive expressive cases of PSCA, OCT-4,CD24 and/orCD44v6 in peritumoral tissues showed atypical-hyperplasia of epithelium. The positive rates of PSCA, OCT-4,CD24 and CD44v6 were significantly lower in patients without  cancer invasion of serous layer,the maximal diameter of mass≤5 cm, non-metastasis of lymph node and Dukes stage A+B than patients with cancer invasion of serous layer,the maximal diameter >5cm, metastasis of lymph node and Dukes stage C+D(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01) High consistences were found among the expressive levels of PSCA,OCT-4,CD24,and CD44v6 in rectal cancer tissues(P＜0.01).
Conclusions:The expressive levels of PSCA, OCT-4,CD24 and CD44v6 could be important markers of cancer stem cells for reflecting the carcinogenesis, progression，biological behaviors and prognosis of rectal cancer.