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
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Rectal cancer is one of the most common form of cancer in both men and women. Gene expression profiling for predicting the response and long-term prognosis of malignancies has been reported in recent decades. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) have been reported to play a vital role in cancer progression. However, few studies focused on their role in rectal cancer.

Research motivation

We try to explore the potential prognostic value of VEGFR1 and TUBB3 for long-term survival in non-metastatic rectal cancer.

Research objectives

A total of 75 patients diagnosed with primary rectal adenocarcinoma without metastases were retrospectively analyzed.

Research methods

Multiplex branched DNA liquidchip technology was applied to detected mRNA expressions of VEGFR1 and TUBB3. The cutoff point of mRNA expression was determined by Cutoff Founder.

Research results

VEGFR1 expression was positively correlated to TUBB3. Patients with both low expression of TUBB3 and VEGFR1 presented a better overall survival (OS). In addition, VEGFR1 and lymph node metastasis had potential as prognostic factors for OS in non-metastatic rectal cancer patients, and the combination of them showed a favorable prognostic value.

Research conclusions

We confirmed that the increased expression of VEGFR1 and TUBB3 might be negatively correlated with long-term prognosis of non-metastatic rectal cancer. Furthermore, VEGFR1 expression and lymph node metastasis affected the survival independently, as well as synergistically. These results might provide additional prognostic information compared to the conventional tumor histopathological factors.

Research perspectives

VEGFR1 has the potential to contribute to decision making regarding individual treatment in rectal cancer. A larger sample size and additional mRNA expression data are warranted to establish a superior prognosis model.