The relationship between the stromal mast cell number, microvessel density, c-erbB-2 staining and survival and prognostic factors in colorectal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE Colorectal adenocarcinomas take second place among the causes of death from carcinoma, and account for 98% of colorectal carcinomas. There is a need to determine new prognostic factors because of high frequency and significance. MATERIAL AND METHOD 204 colorectal carcinomas diagnosed between 01.01.2005 - 31.12.2008 at Uludağ University Medical Faculty Pathology Department were studied for Factor VIII and c-erbB-2 immunohistochemically and with toluidine blue stain histochemically. Association of mast cell number, microvessel density, and c-erbB-2 staining pattern with survival and known prognostic factors was evaluated. RESULTS Follow-up period was 4-60 months. A total of 111 cases were alive, and 65 had died. The mean number of mast cells was 8.00 (1-21) and the mean density of microvessels was 10.00 (2-21). Five-year survival rate of the mast cell group was 48.3% for values under 10 and 57.9% for values of 10 and higher. Five-year survival rate was 58.2% in the group with a microvessel density of 10 and above and 45.9% for values under 10. Five-year survival rate was 53.9% for the group with c-erbB-2 cytoplasmic staining and 48.2% for the group with membranous staining. CONCLUSION The grade increased with the number of mast cells, while survival decreased with an increase in the number of mast cells. The ratio of c-erbB-2 staining increased as the grade and stage increased. There was an association between mast cell number and microvessel density. We found no relationship between prognosis and c-erbB-2, mast cell number, and microvessel density.