The Role of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2 as A Prognostic Biomarker in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

This study aimed to analyze the correlation between fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) expression with the histopathological grade, tumor budding grade, lymphovascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis in colorectal adenocarcinoma.

This study used a cross-sectional design. Immunohistochemistry was performed on one hundred slides from paraffin-embedded blocks of colorectal adenocarcinoma using FGFR2 rabbit polyclonal antibody (E-AB-60590, Elabscience). FGFR2 expression was then assessed using an Olympus CX43 light microscope. Correlations between FGFR2 expression and histopathological grade, tumor budding grade, lymphovascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis of colorectal adenocarcinoma were statistically analyzed using Chi-square, Mann Whitney, and Kruskal Wallis tests with SPSS 27.

Of the 100 samples analyzed, high-grade tumor budding was the most common (n=56), of which 25% showed weak expression and 75% showed strong expression.  In the positive lymphovascular invasion group (n=28), 89.3% showed strong expression, and 10.7% showed weak expression. In the positive lymph node metastasis group (n=32), 87.5% showed strong expression, and 12.5% showed weak expression. Based on the Chi-square test, FGFR2 expression was significantly correlated with the tumor budding grade (p = 0.017), lymphovascular invasion (p=0.003), and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.003). Still, there was no significant correlation with histopathological grade (p = 0.127) of colorectal adenocarcinoma.

FGFR2 expression may be an important prognostic biomarker in colorectal adenocarcinoma.