Serum granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor: a tumor marker in colorectal carcinoma?
OBJECTIVE
Granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a hematopoietic growth factor, 23 kDA molecular weight with a glycoprotein nature, which is also an immune modulator. The levels of GM-CSF and its role in the pathophysiology of several cancers such as ovarian, breast have been investigated. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of GM-CSF and carcinoembryogenic antigen levels in predicting survival.


METHODS
Plasma levels of GM-CSF were measured in 51 patients with previously untreated colorectal cancer patients and 21 healthy adults as normal controls. The clinicopathological features of colorectal carcinoma were determined at the time of blood collection. Patient staging was done according to tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) by American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC).


RESULTS
Plasma concentrations of GM-CSF in colorectal cancer patients (42.0 pg/ml) were statistically significant higher than normal controls (23.2 pg/ml) (p= 0.001). Statistically significant correlation was not determined between pretreatment GM-CSF levels and overall survival. On the other hand, stage of disease, carcinoembryogenic antigen and peripheral leukocyte counts were not correlated with GM-CSF levels.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first report in which serum levels of GM-CSF, carcinoembriyogenic and peripheral leukocyte counts have been simultaneously evaluated in colorectal cancer patients. We found significantly elevated GM-CSF but the results suggested that serum GM-CSF may not be useful for clinical information in prognosis as a tumor marker in colorectal cancer.
Demirci
Umut
U
Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
Coskun
Ugur
U
Sancak
Banu
B
Ozturk
Banu
B
Bahar
Burak
B
Benekli
Mustafa
M
Buyukberber
Suleyman
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor