Hepsin is a type II transmembrane serine protease whose deregulation promotes tumor invasion by proteolysis of the pericellular components. In colorectal cancer, the implication of hepsin is unknown. Consequently, we aimed to study the correlations between hepsin expression and different clinical-histopathological variables in 169 patients with localized colorectal cancer and 118 with metastases. Tissue microarrays were produced from samples at diagnosis of primary tumors and stained with an anti-hepsin antibody. Hepsin expression was correlated with clinical-histopathological variables by using the chi-square and Kruskal−Wallis tests, Kaplan−Meier and Aalen−Johansen estimators, and Cox and Fine and Gray multivariate models. In localized cancer patients, high-intensity hepsin staining was associated with reduced 5-year disease-free survival (p-value = 0.16). Medium and high intensity of hepsin expression versus low expression was associated with an increased risk of metastatic relapse (hazard ratio 2.83, p-value = 0.035 and hazard ratio 3.30, p-value = 0.012, respectively), being a better prognostic factor than classic histological variables. Additionally, in patients with localized tumor, 5-year thrombosis cumulative incidence increased with the increment of hepsin expression (p-value = 0.038). Medium and high intensities of hepsin with respect to low intensity were associated with an increase in thrombotic risk (hazard ratio 7.71, p-value = 0.043 and hazard ratio 9.02, p-value = 0.028, respectively). This relationship was independent of previous tumor relapse (p-value = 0.036). Among metastatic patients, low hepsin expression was associated with a low degree of tumor differentiation (p-value < 0.001) and with major metastatic dissemination (p-value = 0.023). Hepsin is a potential thrombotic and metastatic biomarker in patients with localized colorectal cancer. In metastatic patients, hepsin behaves in a paradoxical way with respect to differentiation and invasion processes.
Keywords: colorectal cancer; hepsin; hepsin paradox; metastasis; thrombosis.