Prognostic Marker In Colorectal Cancer Research Articles

Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 2 is a prognostic marker in colorectal cancer and promotes its progression by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway

BackgroundInterferon-induced transmembrane protein 2 (IFITM2) is involved in repressing viral infection. This study aim to investigate the expression of IFITM2 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and explore its effect on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.MethodsWe analyzed The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database for IFITM2 expression in colorectal cancer and used western blots to detect IFITM2 protein in specimens and cell lines of colorectal cancers. To assess the association between IFITM2 and clinical features, both univariate and multivariate cox regression analysis were conducted. Kaplan–Meier plots were used in the TCGA database to assess IFITM2 gene expression's prognostic significance. Silencing IFITM2 in SW480 and HCT116 cells was achieved by transient transfection with siRNA. Proliferation of CRCs was examined using Cell Counting Kit-8. The effect of IFITM2 on the migration and invasion of CRC cells was studied using wound healing and transwell assays. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to examine IFITM2-associated pathways and Western blotting was used to confirm it.ResultsIFITM2 was over-expressed in the CRC tissues and cells, with high IFITM2 expression related to the tumor N, M, and pathologic stages. The presence of IFITM2 significantly impacted patient survival in CRC. The proliferation of SW480 and HCT116 cells was suppressed when IFITM2 was silenced, resulting in weakened migration and invasion of CRC cells. GSEA analysis showed that IFITM2 was positively related to the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway, and western blot results confirmed that IFITM2 activated it.ConclusionsIFITM2 was over-expressed in CRC and modulated the PI3K/AKT pathway to promote CRC cells proliferation and metastasis.

Keratin 6A Is Expressed at the Invasive Front and Enhances the Progression of Colorectal Cancer

Keratins (KRTs) are intermediate filament proteins in epithelial cells, and they are important for cytoskeletal organization. KRT6A, classified as a type II KRT, is normally expressed in stratified squamous epithelium and squamous cell carcinomas. Little is known about the expression and role of KRT6A in adenocarcinomas. We investigated the clinicopathologic and molecular biological significance of KRT6A in colorectal adenocarcinoma. Immunostaining of colorectal adenocarcinoma cases treated at our institution demonstrated that KRT6A showed significantly stronger expression at the invasive front than that at the tumor center (P < .0001). The high KRT6A–expression cases (n = 47) tended to have a high budding grade associated with significantly worse prognoses. A multivariate analysis revealed that the KRT6A expression status was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (P = .0004), disease-specific survival (P = .0097), and progression-free survival (P = .0033). The correlation between KRT6A and patient prognoses was also validated in an external cohort from a published data set. To determine the function of KRT6A in vitro, KRT6A was overexpressed in 3 colon cancer cell lines: DLD-1, SW620, and HCT 116. KRT6A overexpression increased migration and invasion in DLD-1 but did not in SW620 and HCT116. In 3-dimensional sphere-forming culture, KRT6A expression enhanced the irregular protrusion around the spheroid in DLD-1. Our findings in this study indicated that KRT6A expression is a valuable prognostic marker of colorectal cancer and KRT6A may be involved the molecular mechanism in the progression of invasive areas of colorectal cancer.

CD44: A New Prognostic Marker in Colorectal Cancer?

Cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) is a non-kinase cell surface glycoprotein. It is overexpressed in several cell types, including cancer stem cells (CSCs). Cells overexpressing CD44 exhibit several CSC traits, such as self-renewal, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) capability, and resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. The role of CD44 in maintaining stemness and the CSC function in tumor progression is accomplished by binding to its main ligand, hyaluronan (HA). The HA-CD44 complex activates several signaling pathways that lead to cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, and invasion. The CD44 gene regularly undergoes alternative splicing, resulting in the standard (CD44s) and variant (CD44v) isoforms. The different functional roles of CD44s and specific CD44v isoforms still need to be fully understood. The clinicopathological impact of CD44 and its isoforms in promoting tumorigenesis suggests that CD44 could be a molecular target for cancer therapy. Furthermore, the recent association observed between CD44 and KRAS-dependent carcinomas and the potential correlations between CD44 and tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI) open new research scenarios for developing new strategies in cancer treatment. This review summarises current research regarding the different CD44 isoform structures, their roles, and functions in supporting tumorigenesis and discusses its therapeutic implications.

A novel four‑gene biomarker for tobacco smoking -induced colorectal cancer progression.

Cigarette smoking greatly promotes the progression and poor prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, with the molecular mechanism still not fully clear. In this study, CRC cells were exposed to tobacco specific nitrosamine 4‑(methylnitrosamino)‑1‑(3‑pyridyl) 1‑butanone (NNK), and the differentially expressed smoking-related genes were identified based on both NNK-induced CRC cells and a total of 763 CRC tissues from TCGA cohort. Cox regression analysis, ROC curve and Kaplan-Meier plot were used to establish the risk score model for CRC prognosis. Moreover, qRT-PCR, western blotting, colony formation, migration and invasion assays were performed to verify the core differentially expressed smoking-related gene and its molecular function in NNK-induced CRC progression. Results indicated NNK significantly enhanced CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Moreover, a four-gene signature containing AKR1B10, CALB2, PLAC1, GNA15 was established as CRC prognosis marker. Among these four genes, AKR1B10 was further validated as the core gene, and its expression was significantly inhibited after NNK exposure in CRC cells. Results of gene enrichment analysis and western blotting suggested AKR1B10 might reduce the malignant progression of NNK-induced CRC cells through inhibiting Wnt signaling pathway by promoting E-Cadherin expression and inhibiting the expression of N-Cadherin, β-Catenin, Vimentin and Snail. In conclusion, a new four smoking-related genes can be jointly used as prognostic markers for CRC. AKR1B10 served as a tumor suppressor, can be used as a potential target to inhibit NNK-induced CRC malignant progression through regulating Wnt signaling pathway. This study demonstrates tobacco-derived NNK dependence would promote the malignant progression of colorectal cancer through regulating the expressions of AKR1B10/Wnt signaling pathway. And a novel four-gene signature is established for the prognosis prediction of smoking CRC patients. These findings have important translational implications given the continued use of tobacco and the difficulty in smoking cessation worldwide, which can be applied to alleviate the adverse effects induced by tobacco dependence on colorectal cancer patients.

Abstract LB384: Artificial intelligence measures of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes predict colorectal cancer-specific and overall survival

Abstract Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) per high-power field (HPF) as measured by expert pathologists is a useful, independent, validated prognostic marker in colorectal cancer (CRC). Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques of deep learning (DL) can predict TILs directly from routinely collected, digitized hematoxylin and eosin (H&amp;E) pathology slides, but AI-predicted TILs have not yet been thoroughly validated as clinically relevant biomarker. Here we test whether AI-predicted TILs per HPF can be validated as an independent prognostic biomarker of CRC-specific survival in patients. We constructed an AI model to predict TILS per HPF using a weakly-supervised, transformer-based deep regression model, trained using 5-fold cross validation in a large dataset (n=1,738) and validated in a second independent dataset (n=223) of CRC cases. The model predicted TILs per HPF as a continuous variable, which was carried forward for survival analyses both as a continuous variable and dichotomized at a previously established a priori threshold of &amp;lt;2 vs. ≥2 TILs per HPF. Using longitudinal data from the population-based Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Study (median follow-up = 95 months), survival analyses were performed using non-parametric and Cox-proportional hazards models, with and without adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, stage, and molecularly measured microsatellite instability (MSI). Two or more AI-predicted TILs per HPF were significantly associated with 5-year CRC-specific survival (p=0.0000037), 5-year overall survival (p=0.00021), and overall survival (p=0.000067). In a Cox proportional hazards model adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, stage, and MSI, ≥2 AI-predicted TILs per HPF was significantly associated with improved 5-year CRC-specific survival, with a hazard ratio (HR) = 0.62, (95% confidence interval; 0.43, 0.91), p=0.01. Our new AI-driven deep learning model, which we call HopeSTIL, provides a highly efficient algorithm for analyzing digital pathology images of H&amp;E sections of CRC to quantify TILs per HPF. HopeSTIL is a validated prognostic marker for 5-year CRC-specific survival that does not require a pathologist to manually count and score TILs per HPF. Citation Format: Stephen B. Gruber, Omar S. El Nahhas, Joseph D. Bonner, Joel K. Greenson, Daniel Schmolze, Lawrence Shaktah, Jonathan Salazar, Lorena Reynaga, Sidney Lindsey, Jenny Lu, Allen Mao, Victor Moreno, Stephani L. Schmit, Ya-Yu Tsai, Stanley R. Hamilton, Gad Rennert, Jakob N. Kather. Artificial intelligence measures of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes predict colorectal cancer-specific and overall survival [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 2 (Late-Breaking, Clinical Trial, and Invited Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(7_Suppl):Abstract nr LB384.

Abstract 4635: RNF208: A novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer and key regulator of malignant behavior

Abstract Background: RNF208, a member of the RING finger protein family, has been implicated in ubiquitin-mediated degradation of Vimentin, regulating invasion in breast cancer, and serves as a prognostic factor in uveal melanoma. However, its diagnostic and prognostic value in colorectal cancer (CRC), as well as its role in regulating malignant behavior in CRC, remains unclear. This study aims to reveal the potential of RNF208 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for CRC and its function in regulating malignant behavior in CRC through bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation. Methods: In this study, based on the ExoRbase2.0 human plasma exosome database (CRC=35; Healthy=118) and TCGA-COAD dataset (CRC=478; Healthy=41), we conducted bioinformatics analysis of the transcriptomic differences in plasma exosomes between CRC patients and normal individuals using ExoRbase2.0. Survival data from the TCGA-COAD dataset were integrated to select key molecules for CRC diagnosis and prognosis. Plasma samples from 39 CRC patients and 16 normal individuals were collected from hospital, and exosomes were isolated and purified using a reagent kit. qPCR was employed to validate the levels of RNF208 in plasma exosomes, confirming the results of bioinformatics analysis. Biological behavior was assessed through CCK-8 proliferation assays, flow cytometry experiments, and Transwell migration assays to investigate the relationship between RNF208 and malignant behavior in the HCT116 colorectal cancer cell line. Results: Bioinformatics analysis revealed a significant correlation between elevated RNF208 expression in plasma exosomes and the incidence of CRC, as well as poor prognosis. The qPCR results from clinical samples further confirmed this correlation, and ROC curves demonstrated high sensitivity and accuracy, suggesting RNF208's potential as a diagnostic and independent prognostic factor for CRC. CCK-8 experiments showed that RNF208 knockdown suppressed proliferation activity in HCT116 cells, flow cytometry indicated that RNF208 knockdown promoted apoptosis in HCT116 cells, and Transwell migration assays demonstrated that RNF208 knockdown inhibited the migration of HCT116 cells. Conclusion: RNF208 serves as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer, promoting the proliferation and migration of colorectal cancer cells and contributing to the further deterioration of the disease. Citation Format: Fangyue Guo, Shanfeng Zhang, Pei Li. RNF208: A novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer and key regulator of malignant behavior [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 4635.

The EIF3H-HAX1 axis increases RAF-MEK-ERK signaling activity to promote colorectal cancer progression

Eukaryotic initiation translation factor 3 subunit h (EIF3H) plays critical roles in regulating translational initiation and predicts poor cancer prognosis, but the mechanism underlying EIF3H tumorigenesis remains to be further elucidated. Here, we report that EIF3H is overexpressed in colorectal cancer (CRC) and correlates with poor prognosis. Conditional Eif3h deletion suppresses colorectal tumorigenesis in AOM/DSS model. Mechanistically, EIF3H functions as a deubiquitinase for HAX1 and stabilizes HAX1 via antagonizing βTrCP-mediated ubiquitination, which enhances the interaction between RAF1, MEK1 and ERK1, thereby potentiating phosphorylation of ERK1/2. In addition, activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling induces EIF3H expression. EIF3H/HAX1 axis promotes CRC tumorigenesis and metastasis in mouse orthotopic cancer model. Significantly, combined targeting Wnt and RAF1-ERK1/2 signaling synergistically inhibits tumor growth in EIF3H-high patient-derived xenografts. These results uncover the important roles of EIF3H in mediating CRC progression through regulating HAX1 and RAF1-ERK1/2 signaling. EIF3H represents a promising therapeutic target and prognostic marker in CRC.

Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone as Potential Diagnostic and Therapeutic Target in Colorectal Cancer

Abstract: As the third most prevalent cancer, there is no convincing treatment for colorectal cancer. Growth Hormone-releasing Hormone (GHRH) is an important hormone for the growth and maturity of humans and other animals. Also, recent studies show both GHRH and GHRH receptor to be expressed in many types of cancers, such as lung, breast, colon, ovarian, gastric, and pancreatic cancer. GHRH has been shown to augment the growth and proliferation of cancer cells in in vivo and in vitro studies, but studies have shown that its antagonist can inhibit the growth or even metastasis of cancer cells. The development of many classes of GHRH-R antagonists over the past three decades has shown strong in vivo and in vitro growth inhibitory effects on cancer. The present study is an attempt to review the studies on the association between GHRH and colorectal cancer and examine if the hormone can be targeted for therapy or used as a prognostic marker for colorectal cancer or not.

Crosstalk of cell death pathways unveils an autophagy-related gene AOC3 as a critical prognostic marker in colorectal cancer

The intricate crosstalk of various cell death forms was recently implicated in cancers, laying a foundation for exploring the association between cell death and cancers. Recent evidence has demonstrated that biological networks outperform snapshot gene expression profiles at discovering promising biomarkers or heterogenous molecular subtypes across different cancer types. In order to investigate the behavioral patterns of cell death-related interaction perturbation in colorectal cancer (CRC), this study constructed the interaction-perturbation network with 11 cell death pathways and delineated four cell death network (CDN) derived heterogeneous subtypes (CDN1-4) with distinct molecular characteristics and clinical outcomes. Specifically, we identified a subtype (CDN4) endowed with high autophagy activity and the worst prognosis. Furthermore, AOC3 was identified as a potential autophagy-related biomarker, which demonstrated exceptional predictive performance for CDN4 and significant prognostic value. Overall, this study sheds light on the complex interplay of various cell death forms and reveals an autophagy-related gene AOC3 as a critical prognostic marker in CRC.

Construction of an immune predictive model and identification of TRIP6 as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target of CRC by integration of single-cell and bulk RNA-seq data

BackgroundInvestigations elucidating the complex immunological mechanisms involved in colorectal cancer (CRC) and accurately predicting patient outcomes via bulk RNA-Seq analysis have been notably limited. This study aimed to identify the immune status of CRC patients, construct a prognostic model, and identify prognostic signatures via bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq).MethodsThe scRNA-seq data of CRC were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The UCSC Xena database was used to obtain bulk RNA-seq data. Differentially expressed gene (DEG), functional enrichment, and random forest analyses were conducted in order to identify core genes associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) that were relevant to prognosis. A molecular immune prediction model was developed using logistic regression after screening features using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). The differences in immune cell infiltration, mutation, chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity, cellular senescence, and communication between patients who were at high and low risk of CRC according to the predictive model were investigated. The prognostic genes that were closely associated with CRC were identified by random survival forest (RSF) analysis. The expression levels and clinical significance of the hub genes were analyzed in vitro. The LoVo cell line was employed to ascertain the biological role of thyroid hormone receptor-interacting protein 6 (TRIP6).ResultsA total of seven main cell subtypes were identified by scRNA-seq analysis. A molecular immune predictive model was constructed based on the risk scores. The risk score was significantly associated with OS, stage, mutation burden, immune cell infiltration, response to immunotherapy, key pathways, and cell–cell communication. The functions of the six hub genes were determined and further utilized to establish a regulatory network. Our findings unequivocally confirmed that TRIP6 upregulation was verified in the CRC samples. After knocking down TRIP6, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of LoVo cells were inhibited, and apoptosis was promoted.ConclusionsThe molecular predictive model reliably distinguished the immune status of CRC patients. We further revealed that TRIP6 may act as an oncogene in CRC, making it a promising candidate for targeted therapy and as a prognostic marker for CRC.

Methylation of NRIP3 Is a Synthetic Lethal Marker for Combined PI3K and ATR/ATM Inhibitors in Colorectal Cancer.

The aim of this study was to investigate the epigenetic regulation and underlying mechanism of NRIP3 in colorectal cancer (CRC). Eight cell lines (SW480, SW620, DKO, LOVO, HT29, HCT116, DLD1, and RKO), 187 resected margin samples from colorectal cancer tissue, 146 cases with colorectal adenomatous polyps, and 308 colorectal cancer samples were used. Methylation-specific PCR, Western blotting, RNA interference assay, and a xenograft mouse model were used. NRIP3 exhibited methylation in 2.7% (5/187) of resected margin samples from colorectal cancer tissue, 32.2% (47/146) of colorectal adenomatous polyps, and 50.6% (156/308) of CRC samples, and the expression of NRIP3 was regulated by promoter region methylation. The methylation of NRIP3 was found to be significantly associated with late onset (at age 50 years or older), poor tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and poor 5-year overall survival in CRC (all P < 0.05). In addition, NRIP3 methylation was an independent poor prognostic marker ( P < 0.05). NRIP3 inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, invasion, and migration, while induced G1/S arrest. NRIP3 suppressed CRC growth by inhibiting PI3K-AKT signaling both in vitro and in vivo . Methylation of NRIP3 sensitized CRC cells to combined PI3K and ATR/ATM inhibitors. NRIP3 was frequently methylated in both colorectal adenomatous polyps and CRC. The methylation of NRIP3 may potentially serve as an early detection, late-onset, and poor prognostic marker in CRC. NRIP3 is a potential tumor suppressor. NRIP3 methylation is a potential synthetic lethal marker for combined PI3K and ATR/ATM inhibitors.

Effect of CHRDL1 on angiogenesis and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells via TGF-β/VEGF pathway.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common digestive tract tumor with the third incidence and death in the world. There is still an urgent need for effective therapeutic targets and prognostic markers for CRC. Herein, we report a novel potential target and marker, Chordin like-1 (CHRDL1). The function of CHRDL1 has been reported in gastric cancer, breast cancer, and oral squamous cell carcinoma. However, the biological effect of CHRDL1 in CRC remains unrevealed. Transwell and tube formation experiments were used to determine the biological function of CHRDL1. Western blot and rescue experiments were used to determine the specific mechanisms of CHRDL1. Results showed CHRDL1 is significantly downregulated in CRC cell lines and tissues. In vitro, experiments confirmed that CHRDL1 can inhibit cell growth, migration, invasion, angiogenesis and reverse epithelial-mesenchymal transformation. In vivo, experiments proved that it can inhibit tumor growth and metastasis. Mechanistically, we newly find that CHRDL1 exerts biological functions through the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)/vascular endothelial growth factor signaling axis in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, we concluded that CHRDL1 reduces the growth, migration, and angiogenesis of CRC cells by downregulating TGF-β signaling. Our new findings on CHRDL1 may provide a basis for clinical antiangiogenesis therapy and the prognosis of CRC.

The prognostic value of tumor budding in a thoroughly characterized stage II colon cancer population in the context of a national screening program

Tumor budding as a prognostic marker in colorectal cancer has not previously been investigated in a cohort of screened stage II colon cancer patients. We assessed the prognostic significance of tumor budding in a thoroughly characterized stage II colon cancer population comprising surgically resected patients in the Region of Southern Denmark from 2014 to 2016. Tumors were re-staged according to the 8th edition of UICC TNM Classification, undergoing detailed histopathological evaluation and tumor budding assessment following guidelines from the International Tumor Budding Consensus Conference. Prognostic evaluation utilized Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank tests, and Cox proportional hazard models for time to recurrence (TTR), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS).Out of 497 patients, 20% were diagnosed through the national colorectal cancer screening program. High-grade tumor budding (Bd3) was found in 19% of tumors and was associated with glandular subtype, perineural invasion, mismatch repair proficient tumors, and tumor recurrence (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.045, and p = 0.007 respectively). In multivariable Cox regression, high-grade budding was a significant prognostic factor for TTR compared to low-grade (Bd3 HR 2.617; p = 0.007). An association between tumor budding groups and RFS was observed, and the difference was significant in univariable analysis for high-grade compared to low-grade tumor budding (Bd3 HR 1.461; p = 0.041). No significant differences were observed between tumor budding groups and OS.High-grade tumor budding is a predictor of recurrence in a screened population of patients with stage II colon cancer and should be considered a high-risk factor in a shared decision-making process when stratifying patients to adjuvant chemotherapy.

Five genes identified as prognostic markers for colorectal cancer through the integration of genome-wide association study and expression quantitative trait locidata.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prominent form of cancer globally, ranking second in terms of prevalence and serving as a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, but the underlying biological interpretation remains largely unknown. Methods: We used the summary data-based Mendelian randomizationmethod to integrate CRC genome-wide association studies(ncase=7062;ncontrol=195,745) and expression quantitative trait loci summary data in peripheral whole blood (Consortium for Architecture of Gene Expression: n = 2765; Genotype-Tissue Expression [v8]: n = 755) and colon tissue (colon-transverse: n = 406;colon-sigmoid: n = 373) and identified related genes. Results: Genes ABTB1, CYP21A2, NLRP1, PHKG1 and PIP5K1C have emerged as significant prognostic markers for CRC patient survival. Functional analysis revealed their involvement in cancer cell migration and invasion mechanisms, providing valuable insights for the development of future anti-CRC drugs. Conclusion: We successfully identified five CRC risk genes, providing new insights and research directions for the effective mechanisms of CRC.

Low skeletal muscle radiodensity is a risk factor for adjuvant chemotherapy discontinuation in colorectal cancer.

Previously, we reported SMR (skeletal muscle radiodensity) as a potential prognostic marker for colorectal cancer. However, there have been limited studies on the association between SMR and the continuation of adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer. In this retrospective study, 143 colorectal cancer patients underwent curative surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy using the CAPOX regimen. Patients' SMRs were measured from preoperative CT images and divided into low (bottom quarter) and high (top three quarters) SMR groups. We compared chemotherapy cycles, capecitabine and oxaliplatin doses, and adverse effects in each group. The low SMR group had significantly fewer patients completing adjuvant chemotherapy compared to the high SMR group (44% vs. 68%, P < 0.01). Capecitabine and oxaliplatin doses were also lower in the low SMR group. Incidences of Grade 2 or Grade 3 adverse effects did not differ between groups, but treatment discontinuation due to adverse effects was significantly higher in the low SMR group. Logistic regression analysis revealed Stage III disease (odds ratio 18.09, 95% CI 1.41-231.55) and low SMR (odds ratio 3.26, 95% CI 1.11-9.56) as factors associated with unsuccessful treatment completion. Additionally, a higher proportion of low SMR patients received fewer than 2 cycles of chemotherapy (50% vs. 12%). The low SMR group showed higher treatment incompletion rates and received lower drug doses during adjuvant chemotherapy. Low SMR independently contributed to treatment non-completion in colorectal cancer patients.

Integrative Multi-Omics Analysis Identifies Transmembrane p24 Trafficking Protein 1 (TMED1) as a Potential Prognostic Marker in Colorectal Cancer.

Several TMED protein family members are overexpressed in malignant tumors and associated with tumor progression. TMED1 belongs to the TMED protein family and is involved in protein vesicular trafficking. However, the expression level and biological role of TMED1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, the integration of patient survival and multi-omics data (immunohistochemical staining, transcriptomics, and proteomics) revealed that the highly expressed TMED1 was related to the poor prognosis in CRC. Crystal violet staining indicated the cell growth was reduced after knocking down TMED1. Moreover, the flow cytometry results showed that TMED1 knockdown could increase cell apoptosis. The expression of TMED1 was positively correlated with other TMED family members (TMED2, TMED4, TMED9, and TMED10) in CRC, and the protein-protein interaction network suggested its potential impact on immune regulation. Furthermore, TMED1 expression was positively associated with the infiltration levels of regulatory T cells (Tregs), cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and endothelial cells and negatively correlated with the infiltration levels of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and B cells. At last, the CTRP and GDSC datasets on the GSCA platform were used to analyze the relationship between TMED1 expression and drug sensitivity (IC50). The result found that the elevation of TMED1 was positively correlated with IC50 and implied it could increase the drug resistance of cancer cells. This research revealed that TMED1 is a novel prognostic biomarker in CRC and provided a valuable strategy for analyzing potential therapeutic targets of malignant tumors.

Establish a novel tumor budding-related signature to predict prognosis and guide clinical therapy in colorectal cancer

Tumor budding is a long-established independent adverse prognostic marker for colorectal cancer (CRC), yet assessment of tumor budding was not reproducible. Therefore, development of precise diagnostic approaches to tumor budding is in demand. In this study, we first performed bioinformatic analysis in our single-center CRC patients’ cohort (n = 84) and identified tumor budding-associated hub genes using the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). A machine learning methodology was used to identify hub genes and construct a prognostic signature. Nomogram model was used to identified hub genes score for tumor budding, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and calibration plot indicated high accuracy and stability of hub gene score for predicted the prognosis of CRC. The association between budding-associated hub genes and score and prognosis of CRC were further verified in TCGA CRC cohort (n = 342). Then gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and gene set variation analysis (GSVA) were applied to explore the signaling pathways related to the tumor budding and validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) of our clinical samples. Subsequently, immune infiltration analysis demonstrated that there was a high correlation between hub genes score and M2-like macrophages infiltrated in tumor tissue. In addition, somatic mutation and chemotherapeutic response prediction were analyzed based on the risk signature. In summary, we established a tumor budding diagnostic molecular model, which can improve tumor budding assessment and provides a promising novel molecular marker for immunotherapy and prognosis of CRC.

H19: An Oncogenic Long Non-coding RNA in Colorectal Cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has been recorded amongst the most common cancers in the world, with high morbidity and mortality rates, and relatively low survival rates. With risk factors such as chronic illness, age, and lifestyle associated with the development of CRC, the incidence of CRC is increasing each year. Thus, the discovery of novel biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of CRC has become beneficial. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been emerging as potential players in several tumor types, one among them is the lncRNA H19. The paternally imprinted oncofetal gene is expressed in the embryo, downregulated at birth, and reappears in tumors. H19 aids in CRC cell growth, proliferation, invasion, and metastasis via various mechanisms of action, significantly through the lncRNA-microRNA (miRNA)-messenger RNA (mRNA)-competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network, where H19 behaves as a miRNA sponge. The RNA transcript of H19 obtained from the first exon of the H19 gene, miRNA-675 also promotes CRC carcinogenesis. Overexpression of H19 in malignant tissues compared to adjacent non-malignant tissues marks H19 as an independent prognostic marker in CRC. Besides its prognostic value, H19 serves as a promising target for therapy in CRC treatment.

Artificial intelligence-powered spatial analysis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes for prediction of prognosis in resected colon cancer

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) have been suggested as an important prognostic marker in colorectal cancer, but assessment usually requires additional tissue processing and interpretational efforts. The aim of this study is to assess the clinical significance of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered spatial TIL analysis using only a hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained whole-slide image (WSI) for the prediction of prognosis in stage II–III colon cancer treated with surgery and adjuvant therapy. In this retrospective study, we used Lunit SCOPE IO, an AI-powered H&E WSI analyzer, to assess intratumoral TIL (iTIL) and tumor-related stromal TIL (sTIL) densities from WSIs of 289 patients. The patients with confirmed recurrences had significantly lower sTIL densities (mean sTIL density 630.2/mm2 in cases with confirmed recurrence vs. 1021.3/mm2 in no recurrence, p < 0.001). Additionally, significantly higher recurrence rates were observed in patients having sTIL or iTIL in the lower quartile groups. Risk groups defined as high-risk (both iTIL and sTIL in the lowest quartile groups), low-risk (sTIL higher than the median), or intermediate-risk (not high- or low-risk) were predictive of recurrence and were independently associated with clinical outcomes after adjusting for other clinical factors. AI-powered TIL analysis can provide prognostic information in stage II/III colon cancer in a practical manner.

Comprehensive analysis of transcriptome data and experimental identification show that solute carrier 35 member A2 (SLC35A2) is a prognostic marker of colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a solid tumor with high morbidity and mortality rates. Accumulating evidence shows that the soluble carrier family 35 member A2 (SLC35A2), a nucleotide sugar transporter, plays a key role in the pathogenesis of various tumors. However, its expression and function in CRC has not been fully elucidated. The prognosis-related gene SLC35A2 was obtained using differential analysis, prognosis correlation analysis, and LASSO regression screening. Its expression levels in CRC tissues were analyzed, and so was the relationship of this expression with clinical characteristics of patients. Subsequently, the expression levels were correlated with clinicopathological parameters using immunohistochemical analysis. Analysis based on GO/KEGG databases was used to reveal the potential mechanisms of SLC35A2. Next, we explored the relationship between SLC35A2 and immune cells in CRC tissues. A nomogram was created to help understand the prognosis of CRC patients. Finally, western blotting and qRT-PCR reaction were used to verify the expression of SLC35A2 in CRC cell lines. SLC35A2 expression was upregulated and related to tumor pathological stage and lymph node metastasis, indicating that SLC35A2 is an independent prognostic factor and a potential diagnostic marker for CRC. We verified by IHC, WB and PCR that the expression of SLC35A2 was up-regulated in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines, and its high expression was related to the tumor pathological stage of CRC clinical samples. Our study found that SLC35A2 can be used as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of CRC, providing motivation for further study.