To investigate KAI1 gene expression in the progression of human colonic carcinoma and its clinical significances.KAI1 expression was detected by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry in the 4 established cell lines of colorectal carcinoma with different metastatic potentials, and in 80 specimens of colonic carcinoma, 21 colonic carcinoma specimens with lymphatic metastasis and 20 controls of normal colonic mucosa.The expressions of KAI1 in HT29 and SW480 cell lines were higher than those in LoVo and SW620. The expression of KAI1 gene was significantly higher in colorectal carcinoma compared with normal colonic mucosa and lymphatic metastasis (chi(2)=46.838, P<0.01). The expression of KAI1 gene had no relationship with histological grade. The KAI1 expressions in Dukes A and B carcinoma were higher at both mRNA and protein levels compared to Dukes C carcinoma (chi(2)=16.061, P<0.05). The expression of KAI1 in colonic carcinoma specimens with lymphatic metastasis was almost lost. The results of in situ hybridization were in concordance with immunohistochemistry.KAI1 is highly related to the metastasis of colonic carcinoma and may be a useful indicator of metastasis in colonic carcinoma.