title: Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin: a new prognostic marker in stage I colorectal carcinoma?
abstract: TNM stage I colorectal cancer is commonly characterized by a good prognosis, with 5-year survival of around 80% to 90%. Nonetheless, disease progression occurs in a percentage of cases, although the causes of an adverse clinical course still remain to be clarified. In the present study, we analyzed and compared the immunohistochemical expression of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, an iron-binding protein, which is involved in colorectal cancer progression, in series a of 29 surgically resected colorectal carcinomas obtained from patients who died of the disease and in a cohort of 22 colorectal cancers from patients alive 5 years after the initial diagnosis. The prognostic value of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin expression on the overall survival to colorectal cancer was investigated. Variable neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin immunoexpression was demonstrated in 23 of the 51 analyzed cases, with a significantly higher frequency of positive cases among patients who died of the disease. Moreover, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin expression appeared to be a significant independent negative prognostic marker related to shorter overall survival in stage I colorectal carcinoma. If our findings are confirmed in further analyses, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin assessment might be used to select patients with a higher risk of progression and to find adjuvant therapies for the prevention of adverse outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Pathology, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy. vbarresi@unime.it
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barresi
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Gregorio
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reggiani-Bonetti
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ieni
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ponz-De Leon
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barresi
mesh_terms: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000071068:Lipocalin-2; D054834:Lipocalins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; C489506:LCN2 protein, human; D000071068:Lipocalin-2; D054834:Lipocalins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins