Fragile histidine triad gene expression and its corralation with mismatch repair protein in human sporadic colorectal carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the expression of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene and its correlation with clinicopathological features and correlation with mismatch repair protein (mainly MLH1 and MSH2) in human sporadic colorectal carcinoma (SCC). Methods: Immunohistochemistry SP method was used to determine the expression of FHIT, MLH1 and MSH2 protein in surgically resected specimens of 84 human SCC. Results: The positive rates of FHIT, MLH1 and MSH2 protein expression were 48.81%, 92.86% and 100% respectively. Loss or reduced expression of FHIT protein was not related with tumors clinicopathological features such as age, gender, tumors site and histological type (P>0.05), but was correlated with tumors invade depth, degree of the differentiation, Ducks’ stage and metastasis (P<0.05). There was no relationship between FHIT gene expression and MLH1 protein (r=0.0991,P>0.05) and MSH2 protein (r=0.0000,P=1.00) expression in human SCC. Conclusion: Absent or reduction of FHIT gene expression consists of high proportion and is a frequent event in SCC. FHIT gene is involved in the development and progression of human SCC and may be a candidate tumors suppressor gene. The relationship between alteration of FHIT gene expression and mismatch repair protein (mainly MLH1 and MSH2) deserved further study in human SCC.