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Mesenchymal marker and LGR5 expression levels in circulating tumor cells correlate with colorectal cancer prognosis

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Abstract

Purpose

The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been found to correlate with colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis, whereas epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in CTCs has been found to be associated with CRC metastasis. LGR5 is a known target of Wnt signaling and plays an important role in CRC development. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical relevance of EMT and LGR5 expression in CTCs from CRC patients.

Methods

Sixty-six CRC patients were included in this study. The detection and expression of EMT phenotypes in CTCs from these patients were assessed using CanPatrol™ CTC enrichment and mRNA in situ hybridization (ISH), respectively. LGR5 expression in the CTCs was assessed using mRNA ISH.

Results

CTCs were detected in 86.4% (57/66) of the CRC patients included. Both the numbers of total CTCs and of CTCs displaying a mesenchymal phenotype (M+ CTCs) were found to significantly correlate with advanced disease stages and the occurrence of metastasis (p < 0.05). An adjusted multivariate analysis also indicated that the number of M+ CTCs significantly correlated with the occurrence of metastasis (p = 0.031). Additionally, we found that a high LGR5 expression level significantly correlated with the occurrence of metastasis (p < 0.05). We also found that the presence of ≥ 6 CTCs or ≥ 3 M+ CTCs per 5 ml blood significantly correlated with disease progression (p < 0.05). Patients with ≥ 6 CTCs or ≥ 3 M+ CTCs per 5 ml blood were found to exhibit poorer progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates (p < 0.05 in all cases). Using Cox regression analyses, we found that only total CTC numbers remained as independent prognostic factors for a worse PFS (p = 0.043).

Conclusions

From our data we conclude that CTC numbers and EMT phenotypes may serve as prognostic markers for disease progression and metastasis in CRC patients. In addition, we conclude that LGR5 expression in CTCs may serve as a marker for CRC metastasis.

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Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank all the investigators and coordinators who contributed to this study.

Funding

This study was supported by Guangzhou collaborative innovation major projects for “development and industrialization of key technology and product for tumor precision medical real time monitoring” (number 201604010039) and by Guangzhou health care collaborative innovation major projects for “development and industrialization of the clinical application of circulating tumor cell separation, typing and analysis of automatic equipment and reagents” (number 201604020014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The 1st Affiliated Hospital of CQMU, Chongqing, China

    Wuyi Wang, Lin Wan, Jianguo Yang, Yang Zhou & Yong Cheng

  2. SurExam Bio-Tech Co., Guangzhou, China

    Shiyang Wu, Fang Liu & Zhengzheng Wu

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  1. Wuyi Wang
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  2. Lin Wan
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Correspondence to Yong Cheng.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in the studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University.

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Informed consent was obtained from all the patients included in the study.

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Wang, W., Wan, L., Wu, S. et al. Mesenchymal marker and LGR5 expression levels in circulating tumor cells correlate with colorectal cancer prognosis. Cell Oncol. 41, 495–504 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13402-018-0386-4

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