γ-Catenin acts as a tumor suppressor through context-dependent mechanisms in colorectal cancer.

Purpose: γ-Catenin is a protein closely related to β-catenin. While the overexpression of β-catenin has been linked with impaired prognosis and survival in various malignancies, both oncogenic and tumor suppressor functions have been described for γ-catenin. Thus, its role in cancer remains controversial.

γ-Catenin is an independent prognostic marker in early stage colorectal cancer.

Purpose: Expression and role of γ-catenin in colorectal carcinogenesis is not well understood. We aimed at characterizing γ-catenin's expression pattern during colorectal carcinogenesis.

Methods: The expression pattern of γ-catenin was characterized in adenomas, primary colorectal carcinomas, and their corresponding metastases.