Immunohistochemical expression of forkhead box M1 in colorectal carcinoma

Aim There is an urgent need to identify the markers of colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and invasiveness to be more accurate in predicting prognosis. Forkhead box (Fox) family proteins are involved in cell growth and differentiation. FoxM1 is a cell cycle-regulated protein; its deregulation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many cancers because of its ability to drive cell cycle progression and evasion of growth arrest. We studied the immunohistochemical expression of FoxM1 in CRC in correlation with different clinicopathological aspects. Materials and methods We investigated the immunohistochemical expression of FoxM1 using the appropriate antibody in 32 cases of CRC of which 27 cases were of grade II and five cases were of grade III. Results High expression is detected in 81.3% of cases and low expression in 18.7% of cases. FoxM1 high expression was seen in 58.3% free of nodal metastasis (N0) and in 95% of cases positive for nodal metastasis (N1 and N2). FoxM1 high expression was detected in 54.6% of stage I/II and in 95.2% of stage III/IV. High FoxM1 expression was detected in 94.4% of cases on the left side and rectum and in 64.3% of cases on the right side involving the transverse colon. This means that FoxM1 expression is correlated with the status of nodal metastasis (N), the stage of tumor, and the site of tumor whether right or left. Conclusion FoxM1 high expression was in correlation with increasing stage in CRC, positive nodal metastasis, and site of tumor whether right or left side. There was lack of correlation between FoxM1 expression and some clinicopathological aspects such as age, sex, size, histologic grade, and histologic type. The use of targeted therapy for FoxM1 might be of interest in the prevention of tumor progression in CRC.