Correlation of MACC1 and MET expression in rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy

Background: Metastasis associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1) is a recently identified gene that plays a key role in regulating hepatocyte growth factor-MET signaling. In this study, we demonstrated the correlation and the clinical significance of MACC1 and MET expression in rectal cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery. Materials and Methods: The expression of MACC1 and MET mRNA in residual cancer cells from 52 patients after CRT was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Protein expression was also investigated by immunohistochemical staining. Results: MACC1 and MET expressions were positively correlated. Furthermore, these proteins were also co-expressed in immunohistochemical analyses. High expression of MACC1 or MET was associated with reduced relapse-free survival and the prognosis was worse when both genes were highly expressed. Conclusion: Evaluation of MACC1 and MET expression may be useful for predicting prognosis in patients with rectal cancer treated with CRT followed by surgery.