Expression of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ in Human Colorectal Carcinoma and Its Correlation with Clinicopathological Characteristics

Peroxisome proliferator activator receptor γ (PPAR γ) activation may be responsible for inhibiting the growth of cancer cell lines, and drugs that activate PPAR γ may have therapeutic benefits. Therefore, a mutation in peroxisome proliferator activator receptor γ can produce carcinogenesis. This present study aims to assess the expression of PPAR γ by immunohistochemistry in colorectal carcinoma and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics. Most of the cases were elderly males, and pelvic pain and bleeding were the predominant symptoms. Colon carcinoma was more common than rectal carcinoma. The adenocarcinoma NOS and mucinous carcinoma were the common histological types, and 40% cases showed lymph node metastasis. The PPAR γ expression was present in 61.8% of the patients, and it showed a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis and tumor location (p = 0.05 and p = 0.04). The overall survival was slightly higher but non-significant in patients with positive PPAR γ expression than negative ones (p = 0.7). The multivariate analysis revealed that nodal metastasis, lymphovascular invasion, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were the independent prognostic factors for colorectal carcinoma. The PPAR γ expression showed a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis and tumor location. Thus, we hypothesized that the PPAR γ expression might affect the overall survival in colorectal cancer. However, more studies with larger sample size are required to understand the nature of colorectal cancer expressing PPAR γ which might benefit the patient therapeutically in future.