Expression analysis and clinical evaluation of kallikrein-related peptidase 10 (KLK10) in colorectal cancer

• Published in: Tumor biology 2011-08, Vol.32 (4), p.737-744
• Main Authors: Talieri, Maroulio, Alexopoulou, Dimitra K., Scorilas, Andreas, Kypraios, Dimitris, Arnogiannaki, Niki, Devetzi, Marina, Patsavela, Matina, Xynopoulos, Dimitris
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomarkers; Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer Research; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal Neoplasms - genetics; Colorectal Neoplasms - metabolism; Colorectal Neoplasms - pathology; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Gene Expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Humans; Kallikreins - biosynthesis; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Medical prognosis; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Research Article; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger - analysis
• ISSN: 1010-4283; 1423-0380
• DOI: 10.1007/s13277-011-0175-4

Kallikrein-related peptidases (KLKs) represent a serine protease family having 15 members. KLK10 is a secreted protease with a trypsin-like activity. The function of KLK10 is poorly understood, although it has been suggested that KLK10 may function as a tumor suppressor gene. In human cancer, KLK10 gene shows organ-specific up- or down-regulation. Since KLKs are promising tumor biomarkers, the examination of KLK10 mRNA expression and its association with colorectal cancer (CRC) progression was studied using semi-quantitative PCR. One hundred and nineteen primary CRC specimens were examined for which follow-up information was available for a median period of 29 months (range, 1–104 months). KLK10 expression was found to be significantly associated with TNM stage ( p  = 0.028). Cox proportional hazard regression model using univariate analysis revealed for the first time that high status KLK10 expression is a significant factor for disease-free survival (DFS; p  = 0.002) and overall survival (OS; p  = 0.026) of patients. Kaplan–Meier survival curves demonstrated that KLK10 expression of low status is significantly associated with longer DFS ( p  = 0.001) as well as OS ( p  = 0.021), suggesting that KLK10 gene expression may be used as a marker of unfavorable prognosis for CRC. As the epigenetics of cancer are unraveled, KLK10 may represent not only a novel biomarker, but also a promising future therapeutic target for the disease.