Cytokeratin profiles identify diagnostic signatures in colorectal cancer using multiplex analysis of tissue microarrays.

Background And Aims: Recent cDNA expression profiling analyses indicate that within specific organ cancers Cytokeratins (CKs) dysregulation may identify subgroups with distinct biological phenotypes. Our objectives in this study were (1) to test whether cytokeratins were also distinct on the protein level, (2) to evaluate these biomarkers in a series of well-characterised CRCs, (3) to apply hierarchical cluster analysis to immunohistochemical data.

Methods: Tissue microarrays (TMA) comprising 468 CRC specimens from 203 patients were constructed to evaluate CK5, CK7, CK8, CK13, CK14, CK16, CK17, CK18, CK19 and CK20.