Finally, in a cohort of xenopatients, stratified for response to cetuximab, we observed an inverse association between the expression level of LRIG1 and CRC progression upon CTX treatment.
LRIG1 is down-regulated in various epithelial cancers, including bladder, breast, and colorectal cancer, suggesting that it functions as a tumor suppressor.
A significant increase in LRIG1 methylation was identified in CRC specimens compared to adjacent normal tissues and that it was negatively correlated with its mRNA and protein expression.
In conclusion, there was a great heterogeneity in the expression of the LRIG1 protein in colorectal cancer, which was not related to gene dosage of the LRIG1 gene.