title: Circulation of progenitor cells in obese and lean colorectal cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common life-threatening malignancy; risk and progression are elevated in obesity. The purpose of this study was to measure the frequency of circulating CD34-positive endothelial and progenitor cells in the circulation and evaluate their potential values as CRC biomarkers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood was collected from 45 patients with CRC and compared with cancer-free control donors. Detection and enumeration of cells was carried out by flow cytometry on the basis of immunophenotypes established for the cell populations of interest: hematopoietic and endothelial circulating progenitor cells, endothelial cells, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), and CD34bright leukocytes (CD34b LC). Groups were compared using multivariate regression analysis. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic values.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for age and body mass index (BMI), the mean frequencies of MSCs and CD34b LCs were significantly higher in the circulation of patients with CRC than in controls. The areas under the ROC curve were 0.77 and 0.82 for MSCs and CD34b LCs, respectively. The frequency of circulating MSCs, but not of the other cell populations, was also found to be significantly higher in the circulation of obese patients with CRC (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) than in lean patients with CRC and obese controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased frequency of MSCs and CD34b LCs in the peripheral blood may represent a new diagnostic marker for CRC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BMI-dependent changes in circulating MSCs, potentially mobilized from white adipose tissue may reveal their trafficking to tumors, which could be one of the mechanistic links between obesity and cancer progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA. cbellows@tulane.edu
authors.forename: Charles F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Bellows
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jinyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Marsha L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Frazier
authors.forename: Mikhail G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kolonin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor