aurora 2 is related to lymph node metastasis in colon and gastric carcinoma

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Backgrounds: Aurora2 is a family of human serine/threonine kinases characterized as cell cycle regulators. In this study, we evaluated the expression of aurora 2 mRNA in gastro-intestinal carcinoma and the correlation between overexpression and clinico-pathological factors. Material and methods: We studied the 201 Japanese patients with carcinoma of gastrointestinal tract, including 53 esophageal cancer, 72 gastric cancer and 76 colorectal cancer. The expression of aurora 2 was investigated by RT-PCR. Results: Aurora 2 mRNA was expressed in 27 of 53 (51%) esophageal cancer, 38 of 72 (53%) gastric cancer and 36 of 76 (46%) colorectal cancer. The relations between the aurora2 expression and the clinicopathological factors was examined. In gastric carcinoma, lymph node metastasis was shown in 27 of 38 (71%) cases with aurora2 expression positive group, more frequent than those with negative expression (p<0.01). In colon carcinoma, lymph node metastasis was present in 23 of 36 (64%) cases with expression positive group and in 7 of 40 (18%) without, a statistically significant difference (p<0.01). There was lymphatic vessel invasion in 25 of 36 (69%) in the aurora2 expression positive group but in only 12 of 40 (30%) in the negative group (p<0.01). There was a significant differences between the two groups in Dukes classification (p<0.01). The overall 5-year survival rate for patients with aurora2 overexpression was lower than for patients without expression in colorectal cancer (92% vs. 64%, p<0.05). Conclusions: These results suggested that aurora2 expression was associated with tumor progression and patients survival and may be a new prognostic indicator for patients with colon carcinoma.