ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the expression and the clinical significance of meningioma-association protein（MAC30）mRNA and protein in colorectal carcinomas.Methods MAC30 was immunohistochemically examined in 130 primary tumours,73 distant normal mucosa specimens and 34 lymph node metastases from rectal cancer patients＇paraffin embedded blocks.MAC30 mRNA expression was detected by RT-PCR in primary tumors,adjacent and distal normal mucosa of 50 rectal cancer patients underwent colectomy.Results MAC30 cytoplasmic expression level in colorectal primary tumors and lymph node metastases was significantly higher than that in distant normal mucosa.MAC30 mRNA expression was upregulated in primary tumor,and the expression level was related to the histologic type of the tumor.Three-year survival rate of the colorectal carcinomas patients with strong expression of MAC30 was significantly lower than that of the patients with weak MAC30 expression（P 0.05）.Conclusion MAC30 overexpression might be involved in the development of colorectal carcinomas and seemed to be a prognostic factor.