title: Macrophage inflammatory protein-3 alpha (MIP-3a) is a novel serum prognostic marker in patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A significant prognostic difference exists among metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients despite of any treatments. We identify the specific cytokines related to prognosis of metastatic CRC and assess their prognostic significance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Stage IV CRC patients were divided into two groups according to their prognosis. Difference in serum cytokine level between these groups was determined by the cytokine array. Among the specific cytokines, macrophage inflammatory protein-3 alpha (MIP-3a) was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the sera of 242 CRC patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Several cytokines related to prognostic difference in stage IV CRC were identified. The median MIP-3a level (28.2 pg/ml) was used as a cut-off value. Increased MIP-3a was significantly associated with synchronous liver metastases and age. In univariate analysis, high MIP-3a was correlated with poor prognosis (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that high MIP-3a was an independent prognostic factor in all CRC patients (P < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, high MIP-3a was significantly associated with poor survival in patients with stage II, II/III, and IV CRC, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum MIP-3a is not only an independent prognostic factor, but also an independent predictive factor for liver metastasis, which may guide the decision making of metastatic CRC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toiyama
authors.forename: Junichiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hiro
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujikawa
authors.forename: Yoshinaga
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okugawa
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mohri
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kusunoki
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D054418:Chemokine CCL20 / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C108355:CCL20 protein, human; D054418:Chemokine CCL20