Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Oct 15, 2018; 10(10): 351-359
Published online Oct 15, 2018. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v10.i10.351
Prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 and class III β-tubulin in survival for non-metastatic rectal cancer
Xiang-Quan Kong, Yun-Xia Huang, Jin-Luan Li, Xue-Qing Zhang, Qing-Qin Peng, Li-Rui Tang, Jun-Xin Wu
Xiang-Quan Kong, Yun-Xia Huang, Jin-Luan Li, Xue-Qing Zhang, Li-Rui Tang, Jun-Xin Wu, Department of Radiation Oncology, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou 350014, Fujian Province, China
Qing-Qin Peng, Department of Radiation Oncology, First Hospital of Quanzhou Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou 362000, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: All authors helped to perform the research; Kong XQ wrote the manuscript and performed procedures; Huang YX wrote the manuscript and performed data analysis; Li JL contributed to writing the manuscript and drafting conception; Zhang XQ, Peng QQ and Tang LR contributed to writing the manuscript and data analysis; Wu JX contributed to writing the manuscript, drafting conception and design.
Supported by Fujian Province Natural Science Foundation, Nos. 2016J01437, 2017J01260 and 2018J01266; the Fujian Medical Innovation Project, No. 2015-CX-8; the Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research, Ministry of Education/Beijing (2017 Open Project-9), Joint Funds for the innovation of science and Technology, Fujian Province, No. 2017Y9074.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Fujian Cancer Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study due to the retrospective nature of the study involving the review of patient medical records and tumor specimens.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflicts-of-interest related to this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Jun-Xin Wu, PhD, Attending Doctor, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, Fujian Cancer Hospital, 420 Fuma Rd, Jinan District, Fuzhou 350014, Fujian Province, China. junxinwufj@aliyun.com
Telephone: +86-591-83660063
Received: June 2, 2018
Peer-review started: June 2, 2018
First decision: July 10, 2018
Revised: July 17, 2018
Accepted: August 26, 2018
Article in press: August 26, 2018
Published online: October 15, 2018
Processing time: 135 Days and 23.2 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To assess the long-term prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1) and class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) mRNA expression in non-metastatic rectal cancer.

METHODS

A total of 75 consecutive patients with non-metastatic rectal cancer from March 2004 to November 2008 were analyzed retrospectively at our institute. The mRNA expressions of VEGFR1 and TUBB3 were detected by multiplex branched DNA liquid-chip technology. The Cutoff Finder application was applied to determine cutoff point of mRNA expression. SPSS software version 22.0 was used for analysis.

RESULTS

The median follow-up was 102.7 mo (range, 6-153.6). The χ2 and Fisher’s exact tests showed that VEGFR1 expression was related to lymph node metastasis (P = 0.013), while no relationships between TUBB3 and clinicopathological features were observed. Univariate analysis showed that T stage, lymph node metastasis, tumor differentiation, VEGFR1 and TUBB3 mRNA expression were correlated to overall survival (OS) (P = 0.048, P = 0.003, P = 0.052, P = 0.003 and P = 0.015, respectively). Also, lymph node metastasis and VEGFR1 expression independently influenced OS by multivariate analysis (P = 0.027 and P = 0.033). VEGFR1 expression was positively correlated with TUBB3 (P = 0.024). The patients with low expression of both TUBB3 and VEGFR1 presented a better OS (P = 0.003). In addition, the receiver operating characteristic analysis suggested that the combination of lymph node metastasis and VEGFR1 had a more favorable prognostic value (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

VEGFR1 expression and lymph node metastasis independently and jointly affect survival. Moreover, low expression of VEGFR1 and TUBB3 presented a better OS in patients with non-metastatic rectal cancer, which might serve as a potential prognostic factor.

Keywords: Rectal cancer; Class III β-tubulin; Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1; Overall survival

Core tip: Nowadays, personalized and precision medicine becomes vital in cancer treatment. Herein, we focus on the long-term prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1) and class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) mRNA expression in non-metastatic rectal cancer. In the 75 consecutive patients enrolled, we found that VEGFR1 expression and lymph node metastasis were independent factors influencing overall survival, and the combination of them showed a favorable prognostic value. Also, VEGFR1 expression was significantly related to lymph node metastasis. In addition, VEGFR1 expression was positively correlated with TUBB3 expression.