title: ROCK I Has More Accurate Prognostic Value than MET in Predicting Patient Survival in Colorectal Cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Colorectal cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States despite improvements in incidence rates and advancements in screening. The present study evaluated the prognostic value of two tumor markers, MET and ROCK I, which have been noted in other cancers to provide more accurate prognoses of patient outcomes than tumor staging alone.
  
  
  METHODS
  We constructed a tissue microarray from surgical specimens of adenocarcinomas from 108 colorectal cancer patients. Using immunohistochemistry, we examined the expression levels of tumor markers MET and ROCK I, with a pathologist blinded to patient identities and clinical outcomes providing the scoring of MET and ROCK I expression. We then used retrospective analysis of patients' survival data to provide correlations with expression levels of MET and ROCK I.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both MET and ROCK I were significantly over-expressed in colorectal cancer tissues, relative to the unaffected adjacent mucosa. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that patients' 5-year survival was inversely correlated with levels of expression of ROCK I. In contrast, MET was less strongly correlated with five-year survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ROCK I provides better efficacy in predicting patient outcomes, compared to either tumor staging or MET expression. As a result, ROCK I may provide a less invasive method of assessing patient prognoses and directing therapeutic interventions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Shruthi S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Bharadwaj
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guzman
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Ramana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vishnubhotla
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, U.S.A. Sarah.Glover@medicine.ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Sarah C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Glover
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000235:genetics*; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C491743:MET protein, human; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases
keywords: Colorectal cancer; MET; ROCK I; five-year survival; immunohistochemistry; tissue microarray