Published online Jan 7, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i1.110
Peer-review started: August 29, 2016
First decision: September 28, 2016
Revised: October 19, 2016
Accepted: December 2, 2016
Article in press: December 2, 2016
Published online: January 7, 2017
Processing time: 130 Days and 17.2 Hours
To detect the expression of trefoil factors (TFFs) and TWIST1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and analyze their correlation with metastasis and survival.
This study examined the expression of TFF1, TFF3 and TWIST1 in a total of 75 tumor samples, 47 matched normal samples (15 cm from the lesion margin), 30 metastatic lymph nodes, and 10 liver metastatic cancer samples from patients with CRC. The relationship was then analyzed between the protein expression and different clinical records. TFF1, TFF3, TWIST1,E-cadherin, vimentin and β-catenin mRNA and protein expression levels were measured in colon cancer cell lines with different metastatic potentials (HIEC, HT29, SW620, and LoVo cells), and the correlation of the expression levels with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was discussed.
It was found that 66.7% (50/75), 78.7% (59/75) and 54.7% (41/75) of tumor tissue samples exhibited positive staining for TFF1, TFF3 and TWIST1 and so did 27.3% (13/47), 100% (47/47) and 17% (8/47) of adjacent normal colorectal tissues. Compared with adjacent normal tissues, significant differences were found in the expression of all three proteins in different cancerous tissues (P < 0.05). Higher expression of TFF3 and TWIST1 was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.034, P = 0.000), advanced stage (P = 0.031, P = 0.003), and poorer survival (P = 0.042 for the TFF3 group, P = 0.003 for the TWIST1 group). The expression of TFF3 and TWIST1 in cancer cell lines was higher than that in HIEC (a normal human intestinal epithelial cell line)(P < 0.05), and the expression intensity demonstrated a tendency to rise with increased metastatic potential both at the protein and mRNA levels. However, TFF1 expression demonstrated the opposite tendency. It was also observed that the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin tended to decrease while that of vimentin, TWIST1 and Snail tended to rise with the increase in metastatic potential.
The expression of TFF3 and TWIST1 might be associated with the survival of patients with CRC after curative resection and might be pivotal predictors of disease progression. TFF3 may be correlated to the invasiveness of CRC.
Core tip: The expression of trefoil factors (TFFs) and TWIST1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and their roles in metastasis and survival are unclear. This study involved the preliminary examination of the expression of TFF1, TFF3 and TWIST1 in CRC tissues and different metastasis samples from patients and cell lines. This study also analyzed the relationship between the expression of these proteins and metastatic potential and survival. It can be concluded that the expression of TFF3 and TWIST1 in CRC might be associated with patient survival after curative resection and may play an active role in disease progression. Finally, TFF3 may be correlated to the invasiveness of the CRC.