ROC curve showed that miR-125a-3p abundant level may predict colon cancer with an area of under the curve (AUC) of 68.5%, in comparison to that of CEA at 83.6%.
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is the most widely used tumor marker in colon cancer; however, there has been controversy regarding the significance of preoperative serum CEA level as a prognostic factor for recurrence.
Since the patient had elevated levels of the carcinoembryonic antigen and a medical history of a Krukenberg tumor metastasized from colon cancer, immunohistochemical examinations were applied.
Two-colour immunofluorescence and single-colour staining of consecutive sections for CXCL17 and the epithelial cell markers carcinoembryonic antigen and BerEP4 demonstrated that colon carcinoma tumour cells indeed expressed CXCL17.
A combination of miR-155 level assay in colon cancer tissue and the serum CEA level both pre- and postoperatively can afford more accurate information for diagnosis and prognosis, especially for predicting recurrence and metastasis postoperatively.
The difference in CN2 levels was associated with tumor location (right- and left-sided colon cancer), but there was no significant association with age, gender, tumor size, tumor grade, tumor stage or serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA).
Western blot analysis and ELISAs revealed significant positive correlations between levels of serpin B5 and CEA in human colon cancer cell lines and in the blood of patients with CRC.
(CK7 is common to all epithelial tumours, CEA can be expressed in clear cell carcinoma, WT1 is normally expressed in serous carcinoma, calretinin is expressed in mesothelioma and CK20 in colon carcinoma).
Four mRNA molecular markers including human telomerase reverse transcriptase, cytokeratin-19, cytokeratin-20, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) mRNA were used to detect CTCs in 141 stages II and III colon cancer patients undergoing curative resection to determine the significance of CTCs in postoperative early relapse.
Our study provides novel insights into the interaction between CEA and TGF-β signaling pathway and establishes a negative feedback loop in amplifying the progression of colon cancer cells to more invasive phenotypes.
Furthermore, when therapeutic scaffolds were implanted into CEA-positive human colon cancer xenograft-bearing mice and human T lymphocytes were subsequently transferred, circulating alphaCEA/alphaCD3 diabody activated T cells and promoted tumor cell lysis.
However, only gene-modified CD8(+) lymphocytes specifically recognized HLA-A2.1(+) CEA(+) colon cancer cell lines, and tumor cell recognition was weak and variable.
Finally, CEA-specific T-cell precursors could be readily expanded by in vitro stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) from colon cancer patients with altered CEA peptide.