Jin Gu

Comparison of carcinoembryonic antigen prognostic value in serum and tumour tissue of patients with colorectal cancer

Objective   Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the serum and the tumour tissue of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is the most commonly used tumour marker for the diagnosis and evaluation of prognosis or recurrence after treatment, but the role remains controversial. The objective of this study was to compare the prognostic value of CEA both in serum and tumour tissue in CRC.

Prognostic value of pretreatment level of carcinoembryonic antigen on tumour downstaging and early occurring metastasis in locally advanced rectal cancer following neoadjuvant radiotherapy (30 Gy in 10 fractions)

To evaluate the role of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in predicting the response to and prognosis for locally advanced rectal cancer treated with 30 Gy neoadjuvant radiotherapy (nRT) in 10 fractions (30 Gy/10 f).

N-WASP is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and associated with poor prognosis

BACKGROUND Neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (N-WASP) mediates migration and invasion in cancer cells, but its expression and clinicopathologic and prognostic importance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unknown. The present study was designed to address these issues. METHODS N-WASP expression was first analyzed by Western blotting in 19 paired HCC and paratumoral liver (PTL) tissues. We further evaluated N-WASP expression immunohistochemically in samples from 119 patients with HCC. The clinicopathologic and prognostic importance of N-WASP expression were also investigated. RESULTS Western blotting showed that N-WASP expression was up-regulated in 15 of 19 HCC tissues (79%), compared with PTL ones. The N-WASP-positive rate in immunohistochemical staining also was greater in HCC (63/119, 53%) than that in PTL tissues (8/119, 6%). The up-regulated N-WASP expression in HCC tissues was correlated with absence of capsule formation and predicted less overall and disease-free survival. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that N-WASP was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and was marginally important for disease-free survival. CONCLUSION These data establish that N-WASP is highly expressed in HCC and its strong prognostic importance. Therefore, the gene/protein might serve as a potential therapeutic target for HCC.

Prognostic value of microsatellite instability in sporadic locally advanced rectal cancer following neoadjuvant radiotherapy.

This study was conducted to investigate the clinicopathological significance and prognostic value of microsatellite instability (MSI) in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) following neoadjuvant radiotherapy.

The expression of chemokine receptors CCR6, CXCR2 and CXCR4 is not organ-specific for distant metastasis in colorectal cancer: a comparative study.

The liver and lung are the organs most commonly affected by metastasis in colorectal cancer (CRC), and the interaction of chemokines and chemokine receptors (CKRs) plays an important role in the metastatic process. The aim of this study was to investigate the organ specificity of CKRs in CRC distant metastasis.

The expression of chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CXCR4 in predicting postoperative tumour progression in stages I-II colon cancer: a retrospective study.

Objectives The prognostic significance of chemokine receptors in stage I/II colon cancer is unclear. We assessed the prognostic value of chemokine receptor CXCR3 and CXCR4 in stage I/II colon cancer. Methods 145 patients with stage I/II colon cancer who underwent curative surgery alone from 2000 to 2007 were investigated. Chemokine receptor expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The associations between CXCR3, CXCR4 and clinicopathological variables were analysed using the χ2 test, and the relationships between chemokine receptors and a 5-year disease-free survival were analysed by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results The high-expression rates of CXCR3 and CXCR4 were 17.9% (26/145) and 38.6% (56/145), respectively. There were no significant associations between the expressions of CXCR3, CXCR4 and clinicopathological factors including gender, age, tumour location, histological differentiation, pathological stage, lymphovascular invasion and pretreatment serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The 5-year disease-free survival was not significantly different between low-expression groups and high-expression groups of CXCR3 and CXCR4. Multivariate analysis revealed that serum CEA and a number of retrieved lymph nodes, rather than chemokine receptors, were independent prognosticators. Conclusions CXCR3 and CXCR4 are not independent prognosticators for stage I/II colon cancer after curative surgery.

Two-week Course of Preoperative Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Adenocarcinoma: 8 Years' Experience in a Single Institute.

Objectives: To evaluate local control and survival in locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma patients who underwent a preoperative 2-week course of radiotherapy (RT) and to identify prognostic factors influencing the survival rate. Methods: We analyzed 377 consecutively treated patients with locally advanced (T3/T4 or node positive) rectal adenocarcinoma. All patients underwent a preoperative 2-week course of RT (30 Gy in 10 fractions) followed by curative surgery. Regression model was used to examine prognostic factors for the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates. The Statistical Analysis System software package, version 9.3, was used for analysis. Results: The median follow-up for all living patients was 63.8 months (range, 5.1 to 131.7). The 5-year DFS and OS rates were 64.5% (95% CI, 59.0-69.4) and 75.6% (95% CI, 70.5-80.0), respectively. The 5-year cumulative incidences of local recurrence and distant metastases were 5.4% (95% CI, 2.9-7.9) and 29.0% (95% CI, 23.9-30.1), respectively. The pathologic complete response rate was achieved in 17 patients (4.5%). The Multivariate Cox Regression model showed that factors affecting DFS were the surgical technique, pre-RT pathologic grade, ypT, ypN, and comorbidity; and factors improving OS were low anterior resection, low pre-RT grade, low ypT, and low ypN. Conclusions: Patients treated with preoperative RT with 30 Gy in 10 fractions had similar local control, 5-year DFS and OS to reported long course RT regimen. The surgical technique, pre-RT pathologic grade, ypT, and ypN seemed to affect the OS. Further study on combining a 2-week course of preoperative RT with concurrent chemotherapy would be warranted.