Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Oct 15, 2022; 14(10): 2014-2024
Published online Oct 15, 2022. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v14.i10.2014
Predictive value of a serum tumor biomarkers scoring system for clinical stage II/III rectal cancer with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy
Jie-Yi Zhao, Qing-Qing Tang, Yu-Ting Luo, Shu-Min Wang, Xiao-Rui Zhu, Xiao-Yu Wang
Jie-Yi Zhao, Xiao-Yu Wang, Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Qing-Qing Tang, Department of Ophthalmology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Yu-Ting Luo, Shu-Min Wang, Xiao-Rui Zhu, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhao JY and Wang XY designed the research and wrote the manuscript; Tang QQ and Luo YT analyzed the data; Wang SM and Zhu XR performed data extraction; all authors have read and approved the final version.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the West China hospital, Sichuan University Institutional Review Board, Approval No. 2020.18.
Informed consent statement: The requirement for patients’ informed consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All author reports no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: Anyone who wants the data can connect to the corresponding author (yuxixi1052006@126.com).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Yu Wang, MD, Doctor, Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. yuxixi1052006@126.com
Received: June 8, 2022
Peer-review started: June 8, 2022
First decision: June 23, 2022
Revised: July 6, 2022
Accepted: August 22, 2022
Article in press: August 22, 2022
Published online: October 15, 2022
Processing time: 128 Days and 6.9 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Multiple classes of molecular biomarkers were studied as potential predictors for rectal cancer (RC) response but there was no sufficient evidence for any of them to be introduced into clinical practice.

Research motivation

To assess the predictive effect of pre-neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) levels on the prognosis of stage II/III RC patients.

Research objectives

The objective of this study is to establish a novel serum tumor biomarker score by combining pre-NCRT CEA and CA19-9 levels. The novel serum tumor biomarker (NSTB) score may predict the prognosis of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) of clinical stage II/III who underwent NCRT independently.

Research methods

A total of 237 patients were included in this study. CEA and CA 19-9 levels were evaluated 1 wk before NCRT. The NSTB score was as follows: score 0: pre-NCRT CEA < 3.55 and CA19-9 < 19.01; score 2: pre-NCRT CEA > 3.55 and CA19-9 > 19.01; score 1: other situations. Pathological information was recorded according to histopathological reports after the operation.

Research results

In the univariate analysis, pre-NCRT CEA < 3.55, pre-NCRT CA19-9 < 19.01, and a lower NSTB score could predict a better prognosis. However, in the multivariate analysis, only a lower NSTB score and higher pathological tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage were independent predictive factors.

Research conclusions

We established a novel serum tumor biomarker score by combining pre-NCRT CEA and CA19-9 levels. The NSTB score can independently predict the prognosis of patients with LARC of clinical stage II/III who underwent NCRT.

Research perspectives

More accurate prediction models need to be established by studies with a larger number of patients.