Expression of epidermal growth factor-receptor related protein (ERRP) in human colorectal carcinogenesis

We hypothesize that ERRP (EGFR-related protein), a recently identified negative regulator of EGFR may modulate EGFR function in colorectal carcinogenesis. The expression of ERRP and EGFR in normal and neoplastic colorectal tissue was examined. ERRP was highly expressed in normal colonic mucosa and benign colorectal adenomas, but lower in colorectal cancer. Mean scores for ERRP expression decreased significantly across well differentiated, moderately well differentiated and poorly differentiated (P=0.002) tumors, respectively. ERRP expression became more attenuated in polyps with increasing grades of dysplasia. In contrast, expression of EGFR was inversely related to ERRP in representative samples of normal and neoplastic tissues.