The aim of the work is to examine the relationship between the clinical and pathological characteristics of colorectal cancer and indicators of disease progression. The examined group consisted of operative biopsies of colorectal carcinoma (n=75), and the control group (n=75) consisted of biopsies of adjacent non-tumor tissue of the colon from the operative preparation submitted to the Pathology Centre of the Clinical Center of Montenegro. After routine histopathological processing, classic Hematoxylin-Eosin and immunohistochemical ABC method with anti-Ki67 antibodies were applied to the 4 μm sections. The histological grade of the tumor is significantly related to the proliferation index, while the pT status depends on the invasion of lymphatic vessels, metastases in the lymph nodes and the Astler-Coller stage. Metastases in lymph nodes are highly significantly associated with invasion of lymphatic vessels and Astler-Coller tumor stage. Distant metastases are significantly related to blood vessel invasion, perineural invasion and Astler_Coller stage. The histological grade of the tumor, lymphovascular and perineural invasion, the presence of metastases in the lymph nodes, distant metastases and the Astler-Coller stage depend on the proliferative index of the tumor cells. Ki67 expression is a good marker of colorectal cancer progression due to its high sensitivity and specificity.

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