Decreased vitamin D receptor protein expression is associated with progression and poor prognosis of colorectal cancer patients

Qi Shi; Xue-Ping Han; Jie Yu; Hao Peng; Yun-Zhao Chen; Feng Li; Xiao-Bin Cui

Decreased vitamin D receptor protein expression is associated with progression and poor prognosis of colorectal cancer patients

Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2020 Apr 1;13(4):746-755. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Qi Shi¹, Xue-Ping Han¹, Jie Yu², Hao Peng¹, Yun-Zhao Chen², Feng Li^{1

3}, Xiao-Bin Cui¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Key Laboratory for Xinjiang Endemic and Ethnic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Shihezi University School of Medicine Shihezi, Xinjiang, China.
² Department of Pathology, Suzhou High-Tech Zone People's Hospital Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
³ Department of Pathology and Medical Research Center, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University Beijing, China.

PMID: 32355523
PMCID: PMC7191154

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression levels and evaluate their clinical significance in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). VDR protein expression was validated by immunohistochemistry in 188 CRC tissues and 134 normal colorectal tissues. The associations between VDR expression and clinicopathologic characteristics, including prognostic outcomes, were analyzed. VDR expression in normal colorectal tissue was higher than that in CRC (83.6% versus 34.6%, P = 4.489 × 10^-20) and generated moderate diagnostic performance for CRC detection (AUC = 0.88, sensitivity = 0.87, specificity = 0.84). Low VDR expression was associated with invasion depth (P = 0.001) and poor survival in CRC (P = 0.031). Univariate Cox analysis demonstrated VDR expression (P = 0.036) was a significant prognostic predictor for survival in patients with CRC. Low VDR expression could be a valuable diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for CRC patients. Targeting VDR may offer a potential therapeutic strategy for blocking CRC.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; prognosis; progression; vitamin D receptor.