Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is mostly derived from adenoma polyps. Investigation of some genes which play a critical role in angiogenesis and malignancy conversion can evaluated the risk of progression of adenoma polyps to CRC. This study aims to investigate VEGF-A and MMP-7 genes expression in different types of colorectal adenoma polyps.
Patients and Methods: In this study, 50 biopsy samples of adenoma polyp and 20 paired tissue samples were collected. VEGF-A and MMP-7 genes expression were investigated by Real-time PCR method and relative quantification. Fold change of genes expression was evaluated by (2-∆∆ct) method.
Results: Overexpression of VEGF-A mRNA expression was found in villous type and high-grade dysplasia adenomas compared to the control group. Also, overexpression of VEGF-A and mRNA was found in polyps located in the left colon in comparison to the right colon and the male group vs. female. However, these results were not statistically significant (p>0.05). MMP-7 mRNA expression was significantly higher in villous adenoma type and the grade of dysplasia compared to the control group (p<0.05). However, overexpression of MMP-7 mRNA in polyps located in the left colon in comparison to polyps located in the right colon and the female group vs. the male group, was not significant (p>0.05).
Conclusions: Evaluation of VEGF-A and MMP-7 genes expression can be used as a prognostic biomarker for colorectal adenoma polyps progression to malignancy. Moreover, they can be used as therapeutic targets in colorectal adenoma polyps for CRC prevention.