Prognostic values of chromosome 18q microsatellite alterations in stage II colonic carcinoma

To investigate the prognostic value of chromosome 18q microsatellite alterations (MA) in stage II colon cancer.

One hundred and six patients with sporadic stage II colon cancer were enrolled in this study. DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor and adjacent normal mucosal tissue samples. MA, including loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MSI), was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, polyacrylamide gel-electrophoresis and DNA sequencing at 5 microsatellite loci on chromosome 18q (D18S474, D18S55, D18S58, D18S61 and D18S64).

Among the 102 patients eligible for MA information, the overall frequencies of LOH, high and low frequency MSI/microsatellite stable were 49.0%, 17.6% and 82.4%, respectively. The high frequency of 18q-LOH was significantly associated with the poor 5-year overall survival (OS) (P = 0.008) and disease free survival (P = 0.006). High levels of MSI were significantly associated with a longer 5-year OS (P = 0.045) while the higher frequency of 18q-LOH at the loci of D18S474 and D18S61 was significantly associated with a poorer 5-year OS (P = 0.010 and 0.005, respectively). But multivariate analysis showed that only the frequency of 18q-LOH was significantly associated with the prognosis of the disease.

High frequency of 18q-LOH is an independent prognostic factor indicating poor prognosis of the patients with stage II colon cancer.