Clinicopathological Factors Affecting Mucin 1, Mucin 2, and Mucin 5AC Staining in Patients who Underwent Resection for Colorectal Cancer

To investigate the clinicopathological factors affecting mucins (MUC 1, MUC 2, and MUC 5AC) staining in patients who underwent resection for colorectal cancer. An observational study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of General Surgery and Department of Pathology, Kafkas University Faculty of Medicine, Kars, Turkey, between January 2020 and January 2021. Patients operated on for colorectal adenocarcinoma were included in the study. Patients who underwent colorectal surgery for benign diseases or had a pathological diagnosis other than adenocarcinoma were excluded from the study. Clinicopathological factors affecting MUC1, MUC2, and MUC5AC staining were evaluated with appropriate statistical tests, assuming a significant p-value of less than 0.05. Of the 30 patients who met all study criteria, 18 (60%) were males. The mean age of all patients was 62.83±16.79 (21-88). MUC1 strongly positive staining was observed in 18 (60%) cases, and high expression was detected in pT4 and pT3 cases (p=0.005). In addition, increased expression was also noted in cases with lymph node involvement (p=0.045). MUC2 expression was more than 60% (strongly positive) in 20 (66.7%). The MUC2 expression was increased in moderately differentiated cases (p=0.032). There was no staining (negativity) in 22 (73.3%) cases with MUC5AC, and more than 60% staining (strongly positive) was observed in 3 (10%) cases. In addition, strong expression was noted in rectosigmoid tumours (p=0.001), female patients (p=0.046), and patients with pT3 and pT4 tumours (p=0.05). High MUC1 and high MUC5AC staining were observed in advanced colorectal cancer, whereas high MUC2 staining was observed in patients with moderate tumour differentiation. Colorectal cancers, Gene expressions, Mucin.