Overexpression of the fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 gene correlates with liver metastasis in colorectal cancer

Expression of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-1, FGF-2, fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)-1, and FGFR-2 genes has been reported in various cancers and is associated with poor outcomes in patients with solid tumors. This study examined the relations between the relative expression of the FGF genes and clinicopathological factors, especially invasion and metastasis, in patients with colorectal cancer. We studied surgical specimens of cancer tissue and adjacent normal mucosa obtained from 202 patients with untreated colorectal carcinoma. The relative expression levels of FGF-1, FGF-2, FGFR-1, and FGFR-2 mRNA in cancer and in normal adjacent mucosa were measured by quantitative real-time, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The relative expression level of the FGFR-2 gene was higher in normal adjacent mucosa than in cancer, whereas the relative expression levels of the FGF-1, FGF-2, and FGFR-1 genes were similar. FGFR-1 gene expression levels were higher in the presence than in the absence of liver metastasis. An analysis of the relation between clinicopathological features and gene expression showed that overexpression of FGFR-1 correlated with liver metastasis. Our results suggested that overexpression of the FGFR-1 gene might lead to liver metastasis in colorectal cancer. Overexpression of the FGFR-1 gene may thus be a useful predictor of liver metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer.