Objective: The membrane-linking protein Ezrin is highly expressed in several types of human cancers. The cor- relations between its immunoreactivity and histopathological data as well as patient outcome have previously been shown. However, the role played by Ezrin in the carcinogenesis, progression and metastasis of primary sporadic colorectal carcinoma (SCRC) is still under investigation. This study assessed Ezrin protein expression in a series of clinical specimens. Methods: Immunohistochemical analysis was used to characterize patterns of Ezrin expression in 132 cases of SCRC, including 74 metastatic cases and 58 non-metastatic cases and 43 adjacent normal colorectal mucosa. Results: (1) The expression rate of Ezrin in SCRC (79.5%) was significantly higher than in adjacent normal colorectal mucosa (11.6%) (P < 0.001); (2) The total expression rate of Ezrin was 86.5% and 70.7% in metastatic group and non-metastatic group, respectively (P = 0.026); the membrane expression rate of Ezrin was 31.1% and 6.9% in the two groups, respectively (P < 0.01); (3) There was no relation- ship between the expression of Ezrin with age, gender, tumor size, location, degree of differentiation and invasive depth; (4) In the cases with followed-up data, univariate analysis demonstrated that Ezrin expression and its membrane translocation was correlated with worse patient’s disease-free survival (DFS) (Puni < 0.05). Conclusion: Ezrin was expressed in the majority of SCRC and associated with adverse prognostic factors. The increase expression and the switch of Ezrin localization from the cytoplasm to the membrane were closely correlated with metastasis in SCRC. It might be served as an important parameter for determining tumor biological behavior.
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