Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Feb 27, 2024; 16(2): 463-470
Published online Feb 27, 2024. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v16.i2.463
Immune function status of postoperative patients with colon cancer for predicting liver metastasis
Le Xiong, Fang-Chen Liu
Le Xiong, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xiangyang No. 1 People’s Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Xiangyang 441000, Hubei Province, China
Fang-Chen Liu, Department of Blood Transfusion, Xiangyang No. 1 People’s Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Xiangyang 441000, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Xiong L and Liu FC contributed equally to this work; Xiong L and Liu FC designed the study; Xiong L contributed to the analysis of the manuscript; Xiong L and Liu FC involved in the data and writing of this article; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the [Xiangyang No. 1 People’s Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine] Institutional Review Board (No. XYYYE20230123).
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
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: Fang-Chen Liu, Doctor, Master's Student, Department of Blood Transfusion, Xiangyang No. 1 People’s Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, No. 30 Shengli Street, Xiangyang 441000, Hubei Province, China. hhdylyh@163.com
Received: December 12, 2023
Peer-review started: December 12, 2023
First decision: January 2, 2024
Revised: January 4, 2024
Accepted: January 30, 2024
Article in press: January 30, 2024
Published online: February 27, 2024
Processing time: 75 Days and 6.4 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Colon cancer (CC) has a high incidence. Liver metastasis (LM) easily occurs after radical resection of CC. The liver maintains a congenital adaptive immune system. Liver metastases after CC surgery significantly affect the patient’s prognosis. Before LM, tumor cells secrete cytokines and exosomes to regulate the liver immune microenvironment and form an inhibitory immune microenvironment for the colonization of circulating tumor cells. Therefore, the immune function in patients after CC surgery is associated with LM.

Research motivation

LM after CC surgery seriously affects patient prognosis, and identifying the risk factors that affect LM after CC surgery is crucial for its early prevention and improving patient prognosis.

Research objectives

To observe the expression of immune function factors in patients with LM of CC and explore their correlation with LM.

Research methods

Analysis of variance and logistic regression analysis.

Research results

The expressions of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA19-9, CA242, CA72-4 and CA50 in patients in the occurrence group were significantly higher compared with the non-occurrence group, while the expression of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, natural killer (NK) and CD4+/CD25 in patients in the occurrence group were significantly lower compared with the non-occurrence group (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that the expressions of CEA, CA19-9, CA242, CA72-4, CA50, CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, NK, and CD4+/CD25 were associated with LM in patients with CC. High expressions of serum CEA, CA19-9, CA242, CA72-4 and CA50, and low expressions of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, NK, and CD4+/CD25 in patients with CC were risk factors for LM (OR > 1, P < 0.05). The ROC curve indicated that the AUC of CEA, CA19-9, CA242, CA72-4, CA50, CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, NK, and CD4+/CD25 in the prediction of LM in patients with CC were all > 0.80, with a high predictive value.

Research conclusions

The expression of tumor factors and immune state-related indices in patients with CC is closely associated with the occurrence of LM.

Research perspectives

Postoperative LM in patients with CC is related to many factors, including the immune system, which plays a crucial role in the body's resistance to tumors. When the immune system is destroyed or becomes dysfunctional, the immune state of the body is disordered, leading to the occurrence of diseases caused by immune disorders, including LM. Therefore, a correlation between postoperative LM and immune function has been speculated in patients with CC.