Browsing by Subject "Rectal cancer"

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    Comparable expression of stem markers and damage-responsive proteins in untreated and chemoradiation-treated rectal cancer
    (2026) Sachi Sekine; Hirotoshi Kawata; Tomoko Kamiakito; Takeo Nakaya; Yasuyuki Miyakura; Koichi Suzuki; Toshiki Rikiyama; Akira Tanaka1; Kentaro Tsuji; Biología Celular e Histología; Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología
    Purpose. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are suggested to contribute to therapy resistance in rectal cancer. However, histopathological analysis of CSCs is still lacking in rectal cancer. Methods. The expression of leucine-rich, repeat containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (LGR5), proto oncogene, polycomb ring finger 1 (BMI1), yes associated transcriptional regulator (YAP) and its paralog TAZ (hereafter, YAP/TAZ), and nuclear β catenin was compared in untreated and chemoradiation treated (CRT) rectal cancer by in situ hybridization and immunostaining. Niche factors were also compared in human rectal cancer specimens and the embryonic intestine. Results. The mean ratios were 15% and 14% for LGR5, 30% and 33% for BMI1, 2.7% and 7.6% for YAP/TAZ, and 38% and 32% for nuclear β-catenin in untreated and CRT rectal cancer, respectively, showing no significant differences for these stem markers following CRT. The stromal expression ratios of YAP/TAZ were 9.7% and 23% in untreated and CRT rectal cancer, which indicated significant upregulation and confirmation of the damage response in the stroma of CRT tumors. In addition, cancer cells co-expressing LGR5 and CDKN1B are also comparable in untreated and CRT rectal cancer. For niche factors, we found that WNT2B and GREM1 were uniformly expressed in rectal cancer with a pattern similar to that of the early embryonic intestine. Conclusion. The expression of LGR5, BMI1, CDKN1B, and YAP/TAZ was comparable in untreated and CRT rectal cancer. The uniform expression of mesenchymal niche factors might prevent the zonation of the stem cell niche in rectal cancer
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    Long non-coding RNA C20orf56 as a predictor of response to neoadjuvant CCRT and survival rates of rectal cancers
    (2026) Cheng-Fa Yeh; Ching-Chieh Yang; Yi-Kai Kao; Pin-Chun Chen; Po-Wen Yang; Sung-Wei Lee; Yu-Feng Tian; Yu-Hsuan Kuo; Li-Ching Wu; Chien-Feng Li; Yi-Che Chang Chien; I-Wei Chang; Chih-I Chen; Biología Celular e Histología; Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología
    Introduction. Colorectal cancer is the third most prevalent malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) improves survival and increases curative surgery rates in rectal cancer. C20orf56, a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), plays diverse roles in cancer, but its association with neoadjuvant CCRT response and prognosis in rectal cancer remains unexplored. Materials and Methods. Tumor samples from 343 rectal cancer patients who received neoadjuvant CCRT followed by surgery were analyzed for C20orf56 expression via in situ hybridization. Associations between C20orf56 expression and clinicopathological parameters were evaluated with the χ² test. Survival outcomes were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank tests, while multivariate analysis was conducted using a Cox proportional hazards model. Additionally, an independent cohort of responders and non-responders (n=8 per group) was used to validate C20orf56 transcript levels by real-time RT-PCR. Results. A transcriptomic analysis (GSE35452) identified C20orf56 as differentially expressed between responders and non-responders. Decreased expression of C20orf56 showed significant correlations with less advanced post-treatment tumor invasiveness, negative post-treatment nodal metastasis, absence of vascular invasion and perineural invasion, and improved response to neoadjuvant CCRT (all p≤0.024). Diminished expression of C20orf56 was associated not only with favorable disease-specific survival (DSS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and metastasis-free survival (MeFS) (all p<0.0001) in univariate analysis but also functioned as an independent predictor signifying enhanced clinical outcomes, including DSS, LRFS, and MeFS (all p<0.001). In the real-time RT-PCR analysis, the transcriptomic levels were significantly lower in the responder group compared with the non-responder group (p=0.007). Conclusion. C20orf56 may play a significant role in rectal cancer progression and response to neoadjuvant CCRT, serving as a novel prognostic factor.