Relationship Between Pokemon Expression and Sentinel Lymph Node Micro-metastasis in Colorectal Cancer

Objective To investigate the relationship between the expression of POK erythroid ontogenic factor(Pokemon) and sentinel lymph node micro-metastasis(SLNMM) in colorectal cancer. Methods The expression of Pokemon mRNA in the tumor and surrounding tissues were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) from 58 cases of stage Dukes A-B colorectal cancer cured by operation. The expression of Pokemon protein and sentinel lymph node cytokeratin20(CK20) protein were detected by immunohistochemical(IHC) techniques in colorectal cancer tissues. Results The expression of Pokemon mRNA in colorectal cancer tissues was markedly higher than that in the surrounding tissues(P=0.000) . But the rates of micro-metastasis between the groups of positive and negative Pokemon expression had no significant difference(P=0.562), and it was shown that the survival rate of patients with Pokemon(+)CK20(-) expression was higher than that of those with Pokemon(+)CK20(+) expression(P=0.039). Conclusion Pokemon is overexpressed in colorectal cancer tissues. The combined detection of Pokemon and sentinel lymph node CK20 protein has important value in the prognosis of colorectal cancer. But we could not consider that Pokemon protein could affect SLNMM yet.