Association between CD133 expression and clinicopathological profile in colorectal cancer

Aim To investigate CD133 expression and its relationship to clinicopathological profile in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed at the Internal Medicine Department, School of Medicine, Adam Malik General Hospital. The colorectal cancer tissue was taken from surgical resection and colonoscopy biopsy from CRC patients. Clinical profile was obtained by a questionnaire. Histopathology examination was done using hematoxylin and eosin staining. Immunohistochemistry (distribution score and intensity score) combined with ROC analysis were conducted to determine CD133 expression. An association between CD133 expression and clinicopathological profile was then analyzed. Results Out of 118 patients, 690 (58.5%) were male. The high and low level of CD133 expression were found in 44 (37.3%) and 74 (62.7%) patients, respectively. No difference between gender, age, body mass index, hemoglobin, leucocytes, platelets, and histopathology with CD133 expression was found. There was a significant difference between CD133 and different CRC locations (p=0.002). CD133 expression was higher in the proximal colon than the rectum (p=0.002), and it was higher in the distal colon than the rectum (p=0.008), especially in terms of percentages of stained cancer cells (distribution score). Conclusion CD133 expression was associated with the tumour location, but not with other clinicopathological factors.