Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. May 27, 2025; 17(5): 101674
Published online May 27, 2025. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i5.101674
Methyltransferase-like factor 14 pathway and its relationship with pathological stages in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer
Qun Dai, Peng-Fei Ma, Jing Tian, Zhan Zhang, Qin Fang, Zi-Yu Lin, Li-Li Wu, Xue-Min Li
Qun Dai, Jing Tian, Qin Fang, Zi-Yu Lin, Li-Li Wu, Xue-Min Li, Department of Pathology, The Third People's Hospital of Hefei, Hefei Third Clinical College of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, Anhui Province, China
Peng-Fei Ma, Department of Gastroenterology, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University at Anhui, Anhui Provincial Children’s Hospital, Hefei 230022, Anhui Province, China
Zhan Zhang, Department of Pathology, South District, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Feixi 231200, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Dai Q designed the study; Ma PF and Tian J analyzed the data; Dai Q, Ma PF, Tian J, Zhang Z, Fang Q, Lin ZY, Wu LL, and Li XM were involved in the data collection and wrote the manuscript; All authors critically reviewed and provided final approval of the manuscript, and all authors were responsible for the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Institutional review board statement: This investigation was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Third People's Hospital of Hefei, No. 2021-019.
Informed consent statement: All study participants or their legal guardians provided written informed consent before enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict 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: Jing Tian, MD, Chief Physician, Department of Pathology, The Third People's Hospital of Hefei, Hefei Third Clinical College of Anhui Medical University, No. 204 Wangjiang East Road, Hefei 230022, Anhui Province, China. 305820252@qq.com
Received: January 10, 2025
Revised: February 3, 2025
Accepted: March 18, 2025
Published online: May 27, 2025
Processing time: 132 Days and 18 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Epigenetic involvement of methyltransferase-like factor 14 (METTL14) in tumor development has not been clearly defined.

AIM

To investigate METTL14 expression and its relationship with pathological stage in patients undergoing radical surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC).

METHODS

This retrospective study included 80 patients with CRC who were admitted to the Third Hospital of Hefei and the Western District of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University between June 2021 and June 2024. These patients were selected for treatment. Lesions and adjacent tissues were collected from these patients, and METTL14 expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry. Expression levels of METTL14 were compared across different tissue samples. Additionally, we evaluated METTL14 expression in patients with varying pathological characteristics using statistical methods such as χ2 tests and analysis of variance to identify significant differences.

RESULTS

The positivity rate of METTL14 in tumor tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent tissues (30% vs 60%, P < 0.05). Conversely, the negative expression rate of METTL14 was higher in tumor tissues compared to adjacent tissues (P < 0.05). The positive expression of METTL14 mRNA did not differ by age, sex, tumor tissue classification, tumor diameter, or tumor location (P > 0.05). However, the positive expression rate of METTL14 was significantly lower in patients with lymph node metastasis, invasion depth T3 + T4, and tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) stage III/IV compared to those without lymph node metastasis, invasion depth T1 + T2, and TNM stage I (P < 0.05). Specifically, METTL14 mRNA expression was significantly lower in patients with lymph node metastasis (0.51 ± 0.12 vs 1.23 ± 0.25, P < 0.001), invasion depth T3 + T4 (0.48 ± 0.15 vs 1.18 ± 0.21, P < 0.001), and TNM stage III/IV (0.45 ± 0.13 vs 1.20 ± 0.22, P < 0.001) compared to those with no lymph node metastasis, invasion depth T1 + T2, and TNM stage I, respectively.

CONCLUSION

In CRC, low positive METTL14 expression is closely correlated with lymph node metastasis, invasion depth T3 + T4, and TNM stage, indicating the malignant biological behavior of rectal cancer.

Keywords: Methyltransferase-like factor 14; Clinical pathology; Colorectal cancer; Radical resection; Treatment

Core Tip: This study underscores the critical role of methyltransferase-like factor 14 (METTL14) expression in colorectal cancer, demonstrating that low METTL14 levels are associated with advanced tumor features, including lymph node metastasis and higher tumor-node-metastasis stages. Our findings suggest that METTL14 could serve as a potential biomarker for predicting malignant behavior and survival outcomes in patients undergoing radical resection, offering new insights for clinical management and prognosis.