Objective     To investigate the expression and clinical significance of mcm7

mcm5

and cyclin E in rectal carcinoma.     Methods     One hundred and four rectal adenocarcinoma specimens

as well as twenty-eight rectal adenoma specimens and thirty-six adjacent normal tissue specimens as control groups

were collected from the patients who had not received chemotherapy or radiotherapy before operation. SP immuno

histochemical staining was used to measure the expression levels of mcm7

mcm5

and cyclin E in the specimens

and the correlations of the expression levels of mcm7

mcm5

and cyclin E in 104 rectal adenocarcinoma specimens with the clinicopathologic features of rectal carcinoma were analyzed.     Results     The positive rates of mcm7

mcm5

and cyclin E in the rectal adenocarcinoma specimens [82.69%(86/104)

76.92%(80/104)

and 67.31%(70/104)

respectively

]

were significantly higher than those in both control groups

and those in the rectal adenoma specimens [53.57%(15/28)

42.86%(12/28)

and 28.57%(8/28)

respectively

]

were also higher than those in the adjacent normal tissue specimens [27.78%(10/36)

22.22%(8/36)

and 11.11%(4/36)

respectively

]

. The expressions of mcm7

mcm5

and cyclin E were significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis

distant metastasis

tumor differentiation degree

and tumor infiltration depth (

P

<

0.05)

but not significantly correlated with gender

age

and tumor size (

P

>0.05). The expressions of mcm7

mcm5

and cyclin E were positively related to each other (

P

<

0.05).     Conclusion     Overexpression of mcm7

mcm5

and cyclin E may play important roles in rectal adenocarcinoma carcinogenesis and development.