Abstract: To assess the relationship of P53, nm23, CD44 and FN with lymph node metastasis of colorectal carcinoma, the expression of the four proteins was examined from 73 cases of colorectal carcinomas(37 cases with lymph node metastasis and 36 cases without metastasis) using immunohistochemical method. The low expression of nm23 and the positive expression of CD44 were significant difference between metastasis group and nonmetastasis(P<0.01). When using the combination of nm23 and CD44 to predict the lymph node metastasis, the specificity was 97.22%, and the sensitivity was 56.76%. An inverse correlation was observed between nm23 expression and lymph node metastasis. While CD44 expression showed a positive correlation. The combination of the two tests may be used as Author a objective parameter in predicting the lymph node metastasis of colorectal carcinoma.

Key words: colorectal carcinoma, lymph node metastasis, P53, nm23, CD44, FN