High fascin-1 expression in colorectal cancer identifies patients at high risk for early disease recurrence and associated mortality

Background Fascin is the main actin cross-linker protein that regulates adhesion dynamics and stabilizes cell protrusion, such as filopodia. In human cancer, fascin expression correlates with aggressive clinical features. This study aimed to determine the expression patterns of fascin-1 and assessed its prognostic significance in colorectal cancer. Methods One hundred eleven specimens of patients with primary resectable colorectal cancer were examined via immunohistochemistry for the expression of fascin-1, and the results were correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and survival data. Results Fascin-1 staining displayed strong intensity in the cytoplasm of the colorectal cancer cells and endothelial cells of tumor blood vessels. Moderate to high fascin-1 expression was associated with progressive anatomic disease extent (p p = 0.007), the presence of lymph node (p p = 0.002), high grade tumors (p = 0.002) and vascular invasion (p Conclusions High fascin-1 expression in colorectal cancer is an independent negative prognostic factor for survival, increasing the risk for disease recurrence or death almost by sevenfold. Fascin-1 expression could be potentially utilized to identify high-risk patients prone to metastasis already in early-stage disease.