Abstract 649: Classics to diagnostics: Assessing EMT biomarkers in colorectal cancer prognosis

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 2021-07, Vol.81 (13_Supplement), p.649-649
• Main Authors: Patel, Rohin, Robertson, Angelique, Saxena, Anjana, Patel, Mintoo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
• DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2021-649

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a second most common cause of cancer death in the United States and exhibits disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. Colon polyps are abnormal growth in the epithelium that can rapidly invade surrounding mesenchyme and metastasize to form multiple secondary tumor sites. Such Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) is the fundamental event that results in lower survival rate for CRC patients. Altered EMT processes are also indicative of health disparity as observed for aggressive nature of prostate cancer in African Americans. In search of potential diagnostic markers that enable us to capture this transition in situ in CRC, we focused on two major biomarkers, E-Cadherin, an epithelial specific surface protein, and Vimentin, a mesenchymal specific cellular filament component. We obtained de-identified biopsy tissues samples of different stages in CRC, classified as precancerous and cancerous, along with the normal tissues, that were collected during colonoscopies for routine histopathological evaluation. In parallel, these formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues were immunostained for the expression of E-Cadherin and Vimentin. As expected, normal tissue specimens expressed E-Cadherin exclusively in the mucosal epithelial cells while mesenchymal cells in the stroma specifically stained for vimentin expression. Interestingly, in some precancerous and cancerous specimens, we observed vimentin-positive foci within epithelial cells that lack E-Cadherin expression. This suggests a proof-of principal that an initiation of epithelial to mesenchymal transition can be detected at the clinics by performing selective immunofluorescence staining of these markers. More importantly, such detection can be correlated with the stage of the CRC that can be very insightful for the progression of the disease. Early detection in CRC through these biomarkers to supplement histopathological evaluation is promising and would provide more predictive and detailed analysis of cancer progression in tissue samples to aid in the choice of appropriate treatment plan. The accurate pre-treatment patient evaluation is pivotal to the modern push for personalized therapy. The array of early detection biomarkers will also enhance our understanding in health disparity in CRC when a large set of samples are analyzed for these markers. Citation Format: Rohin Patel, Angelique Robertson, Anjana Saxena, Mintoo Patel. Classics to diagnostics: Assessing EMT biomarker