Background: Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is a highly aggressive tumor of the digestive tract, and its incidence and mortality rates are gradually rising. Tumor metastasis is considered a major obstacle to successful treatment. Therefore, assessing new biomarkers of CRC metastasis and prognosis is mandatory. CD82 is regarded as a wide-spectrum metastasis and invasion suppressor. Loss of CD82 expression is a commonly notable biological characteristic of colon carcinoma. This study aimed to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of KAI-1/CD82 as prognostic markers in various stages of CRC.
Materials and Methods: Paraffin blocks and clinicopathological data of 50 patients with CRC were obtained from private laboratories. The expression of CD82 tumor cells was immunohistochemically assessed by image analysis in all specimens of CRC. CD82 cell tumor cell expression was classified into low and high groups.
Results: Among the 50 cases of CRC, 18 (36%) had high levels of positive KAI1/CD82 expression, whereas 32 cases (64%) had low levels. The immunohistochemical expression of KAI1/CD82 in CRC cases under investigation showed statistically significant inverse correlations with depth of invasion, presence of distant metastasis, stage, and Duke’s classification, but not with tumor grade or lymph node metastasis.
Conclusion: Accordingly, immunomorphometric analysis of CD82 in tumor cells can be utilized as an accurate tool to assess factors such as prognosis, treatment response, metastatic disease, and tumor recurrence. KAI1/CD82 may be viable therapeutic targets to reduce the risk of CRC patients developing metastatic disease.