Tumor-derived tenascin-C promotes the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer cells.

BACKGROUND Tenascin-C (TNC) is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein, usually derived from myofibroblasts in the cancer microenvironment. Recently, however, the significance of tumor-derived TNC in initiation of cancer metastasis was disclosed. We investigated the clinical significance of cancer-derived TNC in colorectal cancer (CRC) cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS TNC expression in 170 cases of CRC was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, gene expression arrays using purely-separated cancer tissues of another 86 cases was performed and the functional implications of cancer-specific TNC were investigated. RESULTS The expression of TNC mRNA was significantly higher in CRC tissues than in the corresponding normal tissues. Cancer cell-specific TNC expression was a significant prognostic factor in CRC cases. Moreover, cancer cell-derived TNC was associated with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) signature. CONCLUSION Cancer cell-derived TNC promotes cancer invasiveness via EMT regulation, and not cancer tissue TNC but cancer cell-specific TNC is a novel indicator of poor prognosis.