Purpose: The high mobility group proteins (HMGs) include the HMGI family members HMGI-C and HMGI(Y), whose expressions in adult tissues generally correlate with malignant tumor phenotypes. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of HMGI-C or HMGI(Y) gene expression and prognosis in colorectal cancer patients.
Methods: The gene expressions of HMGI-C and HMGI(Y) in 31 paired samples of colorectal tumor and corresponding non-tumor were determined by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: The expression of HMGI(Y) in a colorectal cancer tumor was associated with Dukes staging (p = 0.044), while, in non-tumor, the expression of this gene was significant with metastasis (p = 0.003). Patients with Dukes stage A and B present high HMGI(Y) expression in non-tumor of colorectal cancer (p = 0.006). However, patients with Dukes stage C and D present high HMGI-C expression in colorectal tumor (p = 0.023). In the non-metastasis group, HMGI(Y) was highly expressed in non-tumor of colorectal cancer. However, in the metastasis group, there was no significant difference between tumor and non-tumor tissues in both HMGI-C and HMGI(Y) gene expressions.
Conclusions: The HMGI-C and HMGI(Y) quantitations by real-time RT-PCR are associated with Dukes staging and metastasis; hence, the gene expression levels may be useful in clinical practice.