An investigation of the role of C-terminal tensin-like (Cten) gene in colorectal cancer

The C-terminal tensin-like (Cten) gene is a member of the tensin family and is localised at the cytoplasmic tail of β-integrin. It is involved in various biological events although the role of in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) is uncertain. In order to study this, the expression of Cten during the development of CRC was initially evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) on colorectal adenomas and carcinomas. Positive immunoreactivity for Cten was observed in 317/342 (92.6%) of CRC and 19/20 (90%) of colorectal adenoma. High Cten expression was significantly associated with advance Dukes stage (p=0.001), lymph node metastasis (p<0.001), extra-mural vascular invasion (p=0.001) and distant metastases (p=0.008). Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with high Cten expression had significantly shorter disease free survival (DFS) on univariate analysis (p