The Relationship Between Expression of EpCAM Cancer Stem Cell Marker with Histopathological Grading, Lymphovascular Invasion, and Metastases in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of EpCAM in the colorectal adenocarcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional design. One hundred and thirteen paraffin embedded block of Colorectal Adenocarcinoma were assessed using anti-EpCAM/Epithelial Specific Antigen (Ber-EP4) mouse monoclonal antibody and their expression were performed using Olympus CX-43 light microscope. The relationship between EpCAM expression with histopathological grade of colorectal adenocarcinoma, lymphovascular invasion and metastases ability were statistically analyzed by Chi-Square tests and presented in tables using SPSS 18. RESULTS: From 113 samples, in samples with lymphovascular invasion there were 37 samples (32.7%) with strong expression, while those with weak expression were 19 samples (16.8%). There were 39 samples with metastases and strong expression of EpCAM (34.5%), while 21 samples with weak expression (18.6%). There was a significant relationship between the expression of cancer stem cell marker EpCAM with lymphovascular invasion and colorectal adenocarcinoma metastases (p = 0.002), but there was no significant relationship with histopathological grade (p = 0.574). CONCLUSION: The EpCAM expression can be used as a prognostic factor, and can be considered as a predictive or an option for target therapy in colorectal adenocarcinoma.