Predictive value of inflammatory regulators TGFb1 and CXCL8 in tumor tissue in colorectal cancer

Abstract

Background. Colorectal cancer is ranked third in terms of incidence and second in terms of mortality around the world. Molecular markers of chemoresistance allow to determine the prognosis of the disease and sensitivity of the tumor to drugs.Aim. To assess the predictive value of expression of regulators of tumor-associated inflammation TGFb1 and CXCL8 in the tumor tissue in colorectal cancer.Materials and methods. Patients were divided into 3 groups: group I included patients without relapse of the disease, group II encompassed patients with relapse of the disease (within 6–16 months after the end of chemotherapy), group III included patients with disease progression. Expression of TGFb1 and CXCL8 in the tumor tissue before treatment in patients with stage II–III colorectal cancer (n = 77) was determined using quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on the Bio-Rad CFX-96 Touch Real-Time PCR Detection System (USA). Statistical data processing was performed using Statistica 13.0 software (StatSoft, USA).Results. We found that in samples of poorly differentiated colorectal cancer, the level of TGFb and CXCL8 mRNA was significantly higher than in moderately and well differentiated tumors. We did not reveal any relationship of the level of TGFb1 and CXCL8 transcripts in tumor samples of patients with stage II–III colorectal cancer with age and the presence of mutations in the EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor) signaling pathway (RAS, BRAF). We found a strong positive correlation between the levels of TGFb1 and CXCL8 transcripts for the entire sample of patients with colorectal cancer. We have found that the expression of TGFb1 and CXCL8 genes was significantly higher in the tumor tissue of patients with disease progression.Conclusion. Overexpression of TGFb1 and CXCL8, which are involved in the mechanism of tumor-associated inflammation, can be considered as a negative prognostic factor for the progression-free interval when using the FOLFOX / XELOX regimen for the treatment of colorectal cancer.