PAI-1 Expression Levels in Esophageal and Colorectal Cancers are Closely Correlated to those in Corresponding Normal Tissues

Abstract

To investigate the mechanism of PAI-1 overexpression in esophageal and colorectal cancers, PAI-1 expression levels in these cancers were compared to those in corresponding normal tissues. Quantitative RT-PCR was performed for the PAI-1 gene in esophageal and colorectal cancer tissues and in the corresponding normal tissues and the association between PAI-1 expression levels in these tissues was evaluated. There was a significant correlation between esophageal and colorectal cancer and the corresponding normal PAI-1 expressions with a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of 0.77 (p<0.0001) and 0.81 (p<0.0001), respectively. In previous studies, PAI-1 overexpression was found to be significantly associated with the malignancy of esophageal and colorectal cancers. Taken together, PAI-1 overexpression in esophageal and colorectal cancers might originate from higher PAI-1 expression in corresponding normal tissues and result in a malignant phenotype of these cancers.