Clinicopathologic features and prognostic analysis of MSI-high colon cancer

Purpose The objectives of the study were to estimate the incidence and clarify the clinicopathologic feature of sporadic microsatellite instability (MSI)-high (MSI-H) colon cancer. Furthermore, the role of MSI in colon cancer prognosis was also investigated. Methods Microsatellite status was identified by genotyping. The clinicopathologic differences between two groups (MSI-H vs. MSI-L/S) and the prognostic value of MSI were analyzed. Results From 1993 to 2006, 709 sporadic colon cancer patients were enrolled. MSI-H colon cancers showed significant association with poorly differentiated (28.3% vs. 7.2%, p=0.001), proximally located (76.7% vs. 34.5%, p=0.001), more high mucin-containing tumor (10.0% vs. 5.1%, p=0.001) and female predominance (56.7% vs. 30.2%, p=0.001). In multivariate analysis, MSI-H is an independent factor for better overall survival (HR, 0.459; 95% CI, 0.241-0.872, p=0.017). Conclusions Based on the hospital-based study, MSI-H colon cancers demonstrated distinguished clinicopathologic features from MSI-L/S colon cancers. MSI-H is an independent favorable prognostic factor for overall survival in colon cancer.