Immunohistochemical Evaluation of SATB2 Expression in Colorectal Carcinoma in Mosul City, Iraq

Background: Colorectal carcinoma is one of the most common cancer related morbidities and mortality. Only a few clinicopathological parameters give a prediction of the patient′s outcome. Therefore, there is a demand for additional prognostic markers, which may also assist in detecting the benefits of treatment.Objectives: To assess the frequency of SATB2 immunohistochemical expression in colorectal carcinoma, and to assess the relation of SATB2 expression with variable clinicopathological parameters.Materials and methods: In this retrospective case series study, a study for SATB2 was done by immunohistochemical technique on 50 cases of primary colorectal carcinoma, using mouse monoclonal antibodies (AMAb90635, clone CL0276, Atlas Antibodies AB, Stockholm, Sweden). Results: The patients′ ages ranged from 22-85 years (mean ± SD = 58.6 ± 14.46 years), with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1. Diffuse expression of SATB2 was detected in 70% of cases and a complete absence of expression was seen in 6 cases. A significant association was detected between SATB2 expression and tumor grade and lymph node metastasis (P-value 0.0116 and 0.0218, respectively). While no significant association was detected with patients′ age, sex, tumor site, histological subtypes, or stage of the tumor.Conclusion: SATB2 expression may help in the identification of particularly aggressive colorectal cancer cases and can add additional prognostic information for subgrouping the cases within the same grade and stage.