Is serum thymidine kinase 1 a prognostic biomarker in primary tumor location of colorectal carcinomas?

Yujing Fang; Sven Skog; Qingjian Ou; Zhiheng Chen; Senbo Liu; Ailian Hei; Jin Li; Ji Zhou; Ellen He; Desen Wan

doi:10.1007/s12672-023-00614-5

Is serum thymidine kinase 1 a prognostic biomarker in primary tumor location of colorectal carcinomas?

Discov Oncol. 2023 Feb 17;14(1):21. doi: 10.1007/s12672-023-00614-5.

Authors

Yujing Fang^#^{1

2}, Sven Skog^#³, Qingjian Ou^{1

2}, Zhiheng Chen⁴, Senbo Liu³, Ailian Hei³, Jin Li³, Ji Zhou³, Ellen He⁵, Desen Wan^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Colorectal Surgery, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yassin University Cancer Centre, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Experimental Research, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yassin University Cancer Centre, Guangzhou, 510060, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Medicine, Shenzhen Ellen-Sven Precision Medicine Institute, 3rd Floor, Building 1, Guanlan Street, Longhua District, Shenzhen, 518110, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Management Centre, Third Xiangyan Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Shenzhen Ellen-Sven Precision Medicine Institute, 3rd Floor, Building 1, Guanlan Street, Longhua District, Shenzhen, 518110, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. ellen.he@sstkmed.org.
⁶ Department of Colorectal Surgery, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yassin University Cancer Centre, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, People's Republic of China. Wands@sysucc.org.cn.
⁷ Department of Experimental Research, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yassin University Cancer Centre, Guangzhou, 510060, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. Wands@sysucc.org.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Aim: To assess whether serum thymidine kinase 1 (STK1p), CEA and CA19.9 can be used as prognostic biomarkers in the primary tumor location (PTL) of colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Additional clinical factors of TNM stage, pathological grade, age and sex were also included.

Methods: STK1p was determined by an ECL-dot-blot assay, and CEA/CA19.9 was determined by an automatic electrochemiluminescence analyzer in a retrospective presurgery of right-colon carcinoma (R-CC, n = 90), left-colon carcinoma (L-CC, n = 128) and rectal carcinoma (RC, n = 270). Prognostic factors were evaluated by COX and overall survival (OS).

Results: The multivariate-COX and OS in relation to the prognostic factors of PTL in CRC were different and complex. An elevated STK1p value was significantly associated with poor OS in RC (P = 0.002) and L-CC (P = 0.037) but not in R-CC (P > 0.05). Elevated CEA (P≈.000) and CA19.9 (P≈.000) were significantly associated with poor OS in RC but not in L-CC and R-CC. Multivariate-COX showed that STK1p (P = 0.02, HR = 1.779, 95%CI 1.30-7.582), CEA (P = 0.001, HR = 2.052, 95%CI 1.320-3.189), CA19.9 (P≈.000, HR = 2.574, 95%CI 1.592-4.162) and TNM-stage (P≈.000, HR = 2.368, 95%CI 1.518-3.694) were independent prognostic factors in RC, while TNM-stage was an independent prognostic factor only in R-CC (P = 0.011, HR = 3.139, 95% CI 1.30-7.582) and L-CC (P≈.000, HR = 4.168, 95%CI 1.980-8.852). Moreover, elevated STK1p was significantly more sensitive (P < .001) for predicting mortality than CEA and CA19.9. No correlation was found between STK1p, CEA or AFP.

Conclusion: Combining TNM stage and suitable biomarkers, STK1p provides further reliable information on the survival of PTL of CRC.

Keywords: CA19.9; CEA; Colorectal carcinoma (CRC); Left colon carcinoma (L-CC); Overall survival (OS); Rectal carcinoma (RC); Right colon carcinoma (R-CC); Serum thymidine kinase 1 protein concentration (STK1p).