Persistence of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and Interleukin 10 in Blood of Colorectal Cancer Patients after Surgery Identifies Patients with High Risk to Relapse

• Published in: Clinical cancer research 2003-07, Vol.9 (7), p.2678-2682
• Main Authors: GIACOMELLI, Luciano, GIANNI, Walter, BELFIORE, Cristiano, GANDINI, Orietta, REPETTO, Lazzaro, FILIPPINI, Angelo, FRATI, Luigi, AGLIANO, Anna Maria, GAZZANIGA, Paola
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Actins - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Colorectal Neoplasms - blood; Colorectal Neoplasms - pathology; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; HeLa Cells; Humans; Interleukin-10 - blood; Interleukin-10 - metabolism; Interleukin-6 - blood; Male; Medical sciences; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor - blood; Recurrence; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Risk; Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus; Time Factors; Tumors
• ISSN: 1078-0432; 1557-3265

Purpose: Despite the great number of studies performed to detect circulatingmarkers of disease progression in colorectal cancer, few have shown a clinical use; among those, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and, more recently, interleukin (IL)-10. In this article, we sought to investigate how primary surgery could affect expression levels of EGFR, IL-6, and IL-10 in blood from colorectal cancer patients. Experimental Design: We investigated by reverse transcriptase-PCR assay the expression at mRNA level of EGFR, IL-6, and IL-10 in blood samples taken from 56 colorectal cancer patients. Each gene expression was evaluated 1 day before and 20 days after primary surgery. Persistence of each gene in blood after surgery was then correlated to the relapse free time in a follow-up of 3 years. Results: In blood samples taken before surgery, EGFR, IL-6, and IL-10 were found expressed in 62, 100, and 100% of patients, respectively. EGFR expression, but not IL-6 and IL-10, correlates with stage of disease. In the group of 41 patients who underwent follow-up studies, EGFR was found persistently high in 67%; 94% of them had relapse. Persistence of IL-10 after surgery also identifies relapses in 89% of cases. IL-6 persistence was not found to significantly correlate to progression of disease. Conclusions: Persistence of both EGFR and IL-10 in blood of colorectal cancer patients after surgery identifies patients with high propensity to relapse. These findings may suggest a clinical use of preoperative EGFR/IL-10 reverse transcriptase-PCR assay in the prediction of tumor recurrence.