Study of the Annexin A1 and Its Associations with Carcinoembryonic Antigen and Mismatch Repair Proteins in Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Annexin-A1 (ANXA1) has been implicated in various tumor types, but few studies have investigated its involvement in colorectal cancer. The study aimed to analyze ANXA1 expression in the normal margin and colorectal tumor tissues of 104 patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer and to associate the ANXA1 expression with predictive clinicopathological variables. Hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemical staining were used for the analysis. ANXA1 expression was higher in colorectal cancer than in normal margin tissue (p = 0.0001). However, no differences were observed when we analyzed the ANXA1 expression in colon and rectal tumors (p = 0.830). Also, this protein positivity was associated with increased carcinoembryonic antigen levels (p = 0.004). Our data in the DNA-mismatch repair proteins expression was in accordance to the literature. And their positivity was not associated with ANXA1 presence in colorectal cancer. The high incidence of ANXA1 positive expression in colorectal cancer and its association with carcinoembryonic antigen levels might indicate the importance of this protein in the colorectal cancer biology.