Expression and clinical significance of Bmi-1 in colorectal cancer

AIM:This study was to investigate the expression and significance of Bmi-1 in colorectal carcinoma (CRC), and to explore the effect of Bmi-1 on Ki67 expression in human CRC.METHODS:The samples from sixty CRC, thirty adenomas and twenty normal colorectal mucosal tissues were used in this study.The expression of Bmi-1 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry.The clinicopathological features and survival rate of patients were also analyzed.RESULTS:The overexpression of Bmi-1 was respectively 25.0％, 6.7％and 0% in CRC and adenomas as well as normal colorectal mucosal tissues.The results showed that the expression of Bim-1 was significantly higher in CRC, compared with that in adenomas and normal colorectal mucosal tissues (P<0.05).The overexpression of Bmi-1 protein in CRC was obviously associated with distant metastasis and TNM stage (P<0.05), but not with gender, age, tumor size, tumor site, histological type, differentiation degree and lymph node metastasis (P>0.05).Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the overexpression of Bmi-1 reduced significantly survival of CRC patients (P<0.05).No statistical relation between expression of Bmi-1 and Ki67 in CRC was observed.CONCLUSION:The overexpression of Bmi-1 protein is significantly correlated with tumorigenesis, metastasis and prognosis of CRC.Bmi-1 might be regarded as a parameter in evaluating prognosis of CRC.     

Expression of phosphorylated MEK2 (Thr394) in colorectal cancer and its clinical implication

AIM:To analyze the phosphorylation of Thr394 residue of mitogen extracellular kinase 2 (MEK2) protein in human colorectal tissues and its clinical significance. METHODS:Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded human colorectal tissue specimens were immunostained with the antibody against p-MEK2 (Thr394). The expression levels of p-MEK2 in normal mucosa (n=24), adenoma (n=24) and adenocarcinoma (n=96) of colorectum were compared. Another group of colorectal adenocarcinoma samples (n=417) was used to analyze the expression of p-MEK2 (Thr394) and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters and overall survival. RESULTS:The expression level of p-MEK2 (Thr394) in normal mucosa was 100%, in colorectal adenomas was 66.7% and in colorectal adenocarcinoma was 198%, showing the tendency of decrement and statistically significant differences. No significant correlation between the expression level of p-MEK2 (Thr394) and the clinicopathological parameters including sex, age, body mass index, differentiation degree, T stage, N stage, TNM stage, hepatic metastasis and mutation of K-ras was observed. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the expression level of p-MEK2 (Thr394) and the prognosis of colorectal cancer had no significant correlation. CONCLUSION: Reduction of p-MEK2 (Thr394) expression occurs during colorectal tumorigenesis. The phosphorylation of Thr394 residue in MEK2 may play an important role in the development of colorectal cancer.     

Expression of ERK5 in colorectal cancer tissues and its correlation with distant metastasis in colorectal cancer patients

AIM: To investigate the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5) in primary colorectal cancer (CRC) and adjacent normal mucosa, and to analyze the relationship between ERK5 expression and clinicopathological parameters for exploring the functions of ERK5 in the occurrence and development of CRC. METHODS: The expression of ERK5 in carcinoma tissues and normal mucosa was examined by a set of tissue microarrays and the method of immunohistochemistry. The potential relationship between ERK5 expression and clinicopathological features was also analyzed. RESULTS: ERK5 expression was significantly higher in CRC tissues (134/338, 39.6%) than that in normal tissues (21/80, 26.2%; P<0.05). Overexpression of ERK5 in CRC tissues was significantly correlated with distant metastasis (P<0.05). However, no correlation between ERK5 expression and age at surgery, sex, tumor location, the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, TNM staging or differentiation grade was found (P>0.05). According to the Kaplan-Meier analysis, there is no significant difference in 5-year overall survival between the patients with ERK5 expression at high level and at low level. CONCLUSION: ERK5 protein is highly expressed in CRC with distant metastasis. This may be a promotive factor in the process of distant metastasis.     

Relationship between expression of COX-2 and clinicopathological features in esophageal carcinoma

AIM:To examine COX-2 expression in esophageal carcinoma, and to study relationships between COX-2 expression and clinicopathological features and prognosis of esophageal carcinoma patients. METHODS:89 paraffin - embedded tissue samples from patients with esophageal carcinoma were collected, its clinicopathological features such as tumour differentiation, depth of invasion, length and site of the tumor, regional lymph node metastases, distant metastasis were recorded. Survival time of 81 cases were also recorded. By SP immunohistochemistry method, the expression of COX-2 in tumor samples was examined. RESULTS:COX-2 expression in esophageal carcinoma was markedly higher than that in nomal esophagus, the expression was higher in less differentiated and deeper invaded cases (P<0.05), but it had no correlations with other clinicopathological features such as age,sex, length and site of the tumor, regional lymph node metastases, and distant metastasis (P>0.05). Cases of esophageal carcinoma with lower COX-2 expression had longer survival time than those with higher COX-2 expression (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS:COX-2 expression is higher in esophageal carcinoma than normal esophagus. COX-2 expression of esophageal carcinoma is higher in less differentiated and deeper invaded cases, but it has no correlation with age, sex, length and site of the tumor, regional lymph node metastases, and distant metastasis. Patients with lower COX-2 expression have longer survival time than those with higher COX-2 expression.     

Study of annexin A2 expression in gastric cancer by proteomics and tissue microarray

AIM: To investigate the differential expression of annexin A2 (ANXA2) in gastric carcinoma and to analyze the relationship between ANXA2 expression and clinicopathological parameters of gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Pure gastric adenocarcinoma cells (GAC) and normal gastric epithelial cells (NGEC) in 15 patients with gastric cancer were acquired by laser capture microdissection (LCM). All peptide specimens after trypsin digestion were labeled with ¹⁸O/¹⁶O. Quantitatively identification of differential expression of the proteins betweem GAC and NGEC was performed by Nano-RPLC-MS/MS. The expression of ANXA2 in the 2 kinds of tissues was detected by Western blotting. Tissue microarray containing 75 pairs of gastric carcinoma and para-carcinoma tissues was used and the expression of ANXA2 in these specimens was detected by the method of immunohistochemistry (IHC). The relationship between ANXA2 expression and clinicopathological parameters of the pateints with gastric carcinoma was analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 78 differential proteins were identified and ANXA2 was up-expressed in GAC (2.32∶ 1), which was confirmed by Western blotting (P<0.01). The results of IHC showed that the correlations between the expression level of ANXA2 protein and invasive depth (T stage), lymph node metastasis (N stage), histological differentiation, TNM stage and the size of tumor were observed (P<0.01), but the correlations between the ANXA2 expression and sex, age and distant metastasis (M stage) were not found (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The up-expressed ANXA2 may play an important role in the biological behavior of gastric cancer.     

Expression of miR-625-3p in colorectal carcinoma tissues and cells

AIM: To investigate the expression of microRNA-625-3p (miR-625-3p) in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) and its underlying mechanism. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR was employed to detect the levels of miR-625-3p expression in different CRC cell lines, CRC tissues and pair-matched adjacent normal tissues. The relationships between the expression levels of miR-625-3p and the patients' clinicopathological parameters were estimated. The effects of miR-625-3p on the apoptosis and the cell mitotic cycle of CRC cells were analyzed with propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. The effect of miR-625-3p on the apoptosis-related proteins was analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS: The expression level of miR-625-3p in the CRC tissues was higher than that in the pair-matched adjacent normal tissues (P<0.05). The expression of miR-625-3p in the CRC tumor tissues was significantly correlated with the tumor infiltrative depth, TNM stage and distant metastasis (P<0.05). The expression levels of miR-625-3p in CRC SW620 cells were higher than that in SW480 cells. The CRC cell mitotic cycle was significantly inhibited and cell apoptosis was significantly promoted when the expression of miR-625-3p was inhibited (P<0.05). The expression of Bax protein didn't change and the expression of Bcl-2 protein increased after miR-625-3p mimics were transfected into CRC SW620 cells(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: miR-625-3p may be a promising approach for the treatment of CRC by promoting cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis.     

Relationship between RUNX3,cyclin E,P21 and survival in gastric cancer patients

AIM:To evaluate the relationship between RUNX3,cyclin E,P21,biological features and survival in gastric cancer patients.METHODS:RUNX3 was examined using immunohistochemical staining.Cyclin E and P21 were analyzed by flow cytometry.Survival was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival curves.RESULTS:The positive-expression rate of RUNX3,cyclin E and P21 in tumor tissue from 56 patients with gastric cancer were 44.6%,64.3% and 32.1%,respectively.RUNX3 expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis (P<0.05).Cyclin E might be related to depth of invasion,lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis (P<0.05).P21 was correlated with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05).It was revealed that RUNX3 and P21 were correlated (r=0.57,P<0.05),no correlation between RUNX3 and cyclin E was observed (r=0.25,P>0.05).Using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and the Log-rank test,there was correlation between RUNX3,cyclin E and survival (P<0.05).No correlation between P21 and survival was observed (P>0.05).CONCLUSION:RUNX3 may be related with tumorigenesis and tumor progression by affecting P21 expression.The detection of RUNX3 and cyclin E may be helpful in evaluating the clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in gastric carcinoma patients.     

CHOP expression and its correlation with proliferative/apoptotic ratio in colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence under same genetic background

AIM：To investigate the expression of C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and its correlation with proliferative/apoptotic ratio (PAR) in colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence under the same genetic background. ME-THODS: Four kinds of tissue samples under the same genetic background from 23 patients, including normal colorectal tissue, adenoma with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, adenoma with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and colorectal adenocarcinoma samples, were collected. TUNEL method and Ki-67 immunohistochemistry were applied to determine the PAR. The expression of CHOP was detected by immunohistochemistry SABC method. RESULTS：(1) Under the same genetic background, the level of CHOP expression is significantly higher in colorectal adenocarcinoma than that in the adenoma with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, the adenoma with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and the normal mucosa. The level of CHOP expression was significantly higher in the adenoma with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia than that in the adenoma with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and the normal mucosa. The level of CHOP expression was significantly higher in the adenoma with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia than that in normal mucosa. (2) Under the same genetic background, PAR was significantly higher in the colorectal adenocarcinoma than that in the adenoma with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, the adenoma with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and the normal mucosa. PAR was significantly higher in the adenoma with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia than that in the adenoma with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and the normal mucosa. PAR was significantly higher in the adenoma with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia than that in the normal mucosa. (3) CHOP levels were positively correlated with PAR in the adenoma with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, adenoma with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and colorectal adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION：CHOP expression and PAR continuously increased and positively correlated along the adenoma-carcinoma sequence, indicating that endoplasmic reticulum stress mediates the carcinogenesis of colorectal adenomas.     

Expression and clinical significance of Bmi-1 in gastric carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the relationship between expression of Bmi-1 (B cell-specific MLV integration site-1) in gastric cancer and its clinicopathologic significance.METHODS: 146 surgical patients with gastric carcinoma were followed up at least 2 years.Expression of Bmi-1 protein was examined by immunohistochemistry in their archival paraffin embedded tissue specimens.RESULTS: The intensive positive rate of Bmi-1 expression in gastric cancer was 67.8% (99/146).Expression of Bmi-1 was highly correlated with tumor size,clinical stage,lymph node metastasis and T classification (P<0.05),but not with sex,age,tumor differentiation,etc.(P>0.05).The survival rate in the patients with Bmi-1 expression was much lower than that in those patients without Bmi-1 expression (P<0.01).Multivariate analysis indicated that Bmi-1 expression,T classification,lymph node metastasis,distant metastasis,tumor size and postoperative chemotherapy were all significantly prognostic factors of gastric carcinoma.CONCLUSION: Overexpression of Bmi-1 in patients with gastric carcinoma enhances the possibility of invasion and metastasis,implying a poor prognosis.Bmi-1 may serve as fairly a good prognostic factor to indicate biologic behavior and prognosis in gastric carcinoma.     

Expression and significance of T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain in colorectal cancer

AIM: To study the expression and clinical significance of T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT) in colorectal cancer. METHODS: The patients with colorectal cancer (n=80) from January 2016 to June 2018 were selected. The expression of TIGIT and CD155 in the colorectal cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining method. The expression of TIGIT and CD155 was also determined by Western blot and ELISA. RESULTS: The positive expression rates of TIGIT and CD155 were 78.8% (63/80) and 83.8% (67/80) in the colorectal cancer tissues, significantly higher than that in the paracancerous tissues of 8.8% (7/80) and 18.8% (15/80), respectively (P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between TIGIT and CD155 expression (r=0.867, P<0.01). The expression levels of TIGIT and CD155 were increased as the stage evolved. The positive rates of TIGIT and CD155 in the colorectal cancer tissues were correlated with the degree of differentiation, pathological stage and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: TIGIT and CD155 are correlated with the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer, and can be used as one of the prognostic indicators of colorectal cancer.     

Expression of Foxp3+ Tregs and PD1 in gastric cancer tissues and their correlation with clinicopathological factors and prognosis

AIM: To investigate the expression of Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells (Foxp3⁺ Tregs) and programmed death receptor 1 (PD1) in gastric cancer tissues and their association with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of the patients. The correlation between the 2 molecules was also analyzed at the same time. METHODS: The tumor sections from 111 gastric cancer patients were stained for Foxp3 and PD1 by the method of immunohistochemistry. The associations of the expression levels of these 2 molecules with clinicopathological factors involved in the disease progression and prognosis were statistically analyzed. The relationship of their expression was detected. RESULTS: Foxp3⁺ Tregs and PD1 were expressed in the gastric cancer tissues, and PD1 was expressed in the tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). The expression of Foxp3 and PD1 was correlated with lymph node metastasis, clinicopathological stage and prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The expression of these 2 determinants in the patients with lymph node metastasis and an advanced clinicopathological stage was distinctly higher (P <0.05). The patients with positive expression of the 2 indexes presented a lower overall survival rate and worse prognosis (P <0.05). A significantly positive correlation between the infiltration of Foxp3⁺ Tregs and the expression of PD1⁺ TILs was also observed (P <0.01).CONCLUSION: Foxp3⁺ Tregs and PD1⁺ TILs co-infiltrate in the gastric cancer tissues, which can be used as biological markers to predict the disease progression and prognosis.     

Methylation of TIMP-3 gene and their relationships with their clinical-pathological characteristics of colorectal cancers

AIM: To investigate whether methylation of the TIMP-3 gene is associated with clinical-pathological characteristics, recurrence and metastasis of the colorectal cancer. METHODS: Nest methylation specific PCR (nMSP) and RT-PCR techniques were used to detect methylation of TIMP-3 gene and its mRNA expression in the colorectal cancer specimen and adjacent non-cancerous tissues. RESULTS: The expression of TIMP-3 mRNA in tumor tissues was distinctly reduced (P<0.01). The expression of TIMP-3 mRNA in those without lymph node metastasis was higher than those with lymph node metastasis (P<0.01). The patients with Duke's C, D and lymph node metastasis were more to contain methylated TIMP-3 compared to those with Duke's A, B and no lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Statistical differences in pathological characteristics such as tumor site, Duke's stage, histological differentiation and type between TIMP-3 methylation positive group and negative group were observed (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Methylation of the TIMP-3 gene promoter usually occurs in the proximal site, infiltrating type, poor cellular differentiation, lymph node metastasis and advanced stage of colorectal cancers patients.     

Clinicopathological significance of pEZRThr567 expression in lung squamous carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the clinicopathological significance of the protein expression of phosphorylated ezrin at threonine 567 (pEZR^Thr567) in lung squamous cell carcinoma, adjacent tissues and normal tissues. METHODS: pEZR^Thr567 protein was detected in lung squamous carcinoma, adjacent and normal tissues by the method of immunohistochemistry. The correlation of pEZR^Thr567 expression with clinicopathological parameters of lung squamous carcinomas was also analyzed. The localization of pEZR^Thr567 was detected by immunofluorescence staining in lung squamous cell line EBC-1. RESULTS: The protein expression of pEZR^Thr567 in lung squamous carcinoma was significantly higher than that in the adjacent and normal lung tissues (P<0.01). pEZR^Thr567 mainly localized on the cell membrane, and its over-expression signi-ficantly correlated with the differentiation, clinical stage and lymph node metastasis in lung squamous carcinoma. CONCLUSION: pEZR^Thr567 may be an effective biomarker for prediction of malignant potential and poor prognosis of lung cancer.     

Protein and mRNA expression of KAI1 metastasis suppressor gene and its clinical significance in cervical carcinoma

AIM: To study the mRNA and protein expression of Kang ai1 (KAI1) tumor suppressor gene and to determine the relationship between KAI1 and invasiveness and metastasis of cervical cancer. METHODS: The expression of KAI1 metastasis suppressor was detected by immunohistochemistry in paraffin slides and by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in fresh tissue. The samples included 20 cases of normal cervical tissues, 20 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 40 cases of cervical carcinoma. The results of the gene expression combined with the pathological and clinical data were also analyzed. RESULTS: The expression of KAI1 protein and mRNA was related to the tissue differentiation of cervix. The positive rates of KAI1 expression were the highest in the normal cervical tissue, the middle in CIN and the lowest in cervical carcinoma with significant difference among three groups (P<0.01). The expression of KAI1 protein was not related with the grade of CIN (P>0.05). However, both mRNA and protein expression of KAI1 were related to the differentiation and the clinical stages of cervical cancer (P<0.01) and also related to the metastasis of the cancer. The positive rates between the non-lymphatic metastasis and lymphatic metastasis (P<0.05) were significant different. Cox regression and logistic regression showed that the tissue differentiation, clinical stages, lymphatic metastasis and expression of KAI1 were all related factors with recurrence and prognosis of cervical cancer. CONCLUSION: The down-regulation of KAI1 tumor suppressor gene at both mRNA and protein levels is related to the differentiation, clinical stages and metastasis of cervical cancer, indicating that the expression of KAI1 is a prognostic factor for cervical cancer.     

Expression and clinical significance of RhoC and Ki-67 in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues

AIM: To investigate the expression and significance of RhoC and Ki-67 in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues.METHODS: The expression of RhoC and Ki-67 was detected in 52 specimens of ESCC by the method of immunohistochemistry. The clinicopathological features were also analyzed.RESULTS: The expression of RhoC was detected in 32 of the total 52 (61.5%) cases of human ESCC tissues, significantly higher than that in the adjacent histologically normal epithelium, which was only in 11 of 37 cases (29.7%, P<0.05). RhoC expression was closely correlated with clinical tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (P<0.05) and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05) in ESCC. The over-expression of RhoC was positively correlated with Ki-67 in ESCC (r=0.322, P<0.05).CONCLUSION: The over-expression of RhoC protein significantly correlates with advanced TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and cell proliferation ability of ESCC. Therefore, RhoC may be a new auxiliary parameter for early diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of ESCC.     

Methylation and mRNA expression of TIG1 gene in esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma tissues

AIM: To investigate the expression and promoter methylation of tazarotene-induced gene-1 (TIG1) in esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues. METHODS: The methods of methylation-specific PCR and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR were applied to examine the methylation and mRNA expression of TIG1, respectively, in 43 cases of ESCC tissues, 20 cases of paracancerous tissues and 15 cases of normal tissues. RESULTS: The frequency of promoter methylation of TIG1 gene in ESCC tissues was 25.6% (11/43), which was significantly higher than that in the paracancerous tissues (5.0%, 1/20) and normal tissues (0/20). The hypermethylation of TIG1 gene in these tissues had no correlation with sex, age and clinical stage of the patients. However, it was correlated with the pathological stage (P<0.01) and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The mRNA expression of TIG1 in ESCC tissues was significantly lower than that in paracancerous tissues (P<0.05) and normal tissues (P<0.01). However, the expression level of TIG1 mRNA in methylated tissues was significantly lower than that in unmethylated tissues (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Promoter methylation may be an important mechanism of TIG1 gene inactivation in ESCC, which was related to lymph node metastasis and TNM stage of esophageal carcinoma.     

Expression of osteopontin in endometrial carcinoma and cervical cancer

AIM: To study the expression and significance of osteopontin (OPN) in endometrial carcinoma and cervical cancer. METHODS: Immunohistochemical S-P assay was used to detect the expression of OPN in paraffin-embedded sections of 30 cases of endometrial carcinoma, 20 cases of cervical cancer and 30 cases of normal control tissues. The relationship between OPN expression and clinical-pathological characteristics was evaluated. RESULTS: The positive immunostaining rates of OPN in endometrial carcinoma (70%) and cervical cancers (55%) were significantly higher than that in the normal secretive and proliforative endometrium (50% and 10%) and normal cervical epithelium (10%), respectively (P<0.01). The positive immunostaining rate of OPN in squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the cervix was 53.3% and 60%, respectively, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The positive immunostaining rate of OPN in stage Ⅲ and stage Ⅱ and G3 and G2 of endometrial carcinoma was significantly higher than that in stage Ⅰ and type G1 of endometrial carcinoma. The positive immunostaining rate of OPN in stage Ⅱb and type G3 of cervical cancer was significantly higher than that in stage Ⅰa and type G1 of cervical cancer. CONCLUSION: OPN is significantly highly expressed in both endometrial carcinoma and cervical cancer, and its expression is closely related to the stage and grading of these malignant tumors.     

Prognostic significance of CUEDC2 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the expression of CUE domain-containing 2 (CUEDC2) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to analyze its clinical prognostic significance. METHODS: Total 186 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues obtained from surgical HCC with detailed clinicopathological and follow-up data were used. The expression of CUEDC2 was detected by immunohistochemistry. The relationships between the expression of CUEDC2 and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis were analyzed. RESULTS: The positive rate of CUEDC2 in HCC was 85.5% (159/186), among which, the low expression was 52.2% (97/186) and the high expression was 47.8% (89/186). CUEDC2 expression was correlated with serum alpha-fetal protein (AFP) level, tumor size, tumor number, tumor differentiation and TNM stage (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the patients with high expression of CUEDC2 were associated with significantly shorter overall survival and recurrence-free survival than those with low CUEDC2 expression (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed 3 independent prognostic factors including CUEDC2 expression, serum AFP and tumor number. CONCLUSION: CUEDC2 was expressed in most HCC tissues, which was relevant to tumor growth, tumor differentiation and prognosis. CUEDC2 could be a novel valuable molecular marker to predict the HCC prognosis.     

Expression and clinical significance of chemokine receptor CXCR6 in primary colorectal cancer

AIM: To investigate the expression of chemokine receptor CXCR6 in primary colorectal cancer and determine the association between CXCR6 expression and synchronous liver metastasis/prognosis. METHODS: The colorectal cancer tissues from 143 patients were collected from August 2004 to December 2008 in the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University. Twenty-night cases of the adjacent normal colorectal tissues were enrolled as controls. The expression of CXCR6 was detected by immunohistochemistry and the mean intergrated absorbance ( mIA ) was calculated by Image-Pro Plus 6.0 software. The relationship between CXCR6 expression and synchronous liver metastasis/prognosis was analyzed. RESULTS: The CXCR6 staining was mainly positive in colorectal cancer tissues but not in adjacent normal colorectal tissues. The mIA of CXCR6 in colorectal cancer was 1.54±0.04 (range: 0.41~2.84), and was 1.63±0.05 and 1.41±0.08 (P<0.05) in the cases with (n=83) or without (n=60) synchronous liver metastasis, respectively. According to the mean mIA of CXCR6 (1.54), the cases was divided into high CXCR6 group (mIA≥1.54) and low CXCR6 group ( mIA <1.54). The overall survival rate in high CXCR6 group was significantly lower than that in low CXCR6 group (P<0.05). In multivariate Cox regression models, age (P<0.05), lymph node metastasis (P<0.05) and synchronous liver metastasis (P<0.01) but not CXCR6 were identified as independent risk factors for poor outcome. In subgroup analysis, high CXCR6 expression was associated with poorer survival in the patients with stage I~III colorectal cancer (P<0.01) but not those with synchronous liver metastasis (P>0.05).CONCLUSION: CXCR6 in primary colorectal cancer tissues is associated with liver metastasis. It may become a potential target for the treatment of colorectal cancer liver metastasis.